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fUBRARY OF CONGRESS,^ 

I ^^ I 

I UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. | 



J^ 



ITTl. 1871 



ADDRESSES AND PROCEEDINGS 



Centennial- Anniversary 



COIGREGATIONAL CHURCH, 



November 12 and 13, 1871. 



COJMFILBD B"Sr OUDKE. Olf THE CHTJRCH:, 

V 
By M. T. RUNNELS, Pastor. 



HARTFORD, CONN: 
PKESS OF CASE, LOCKWOOD & BRAINARD. 

1872. 




CONTKNTS. 



Prelimi]s'ary and Introductory, . _ _ 5 

Order of Exercises, _ . . _ 8 

"Sermon," .._... 9 

Remarks at the Memorial Communion, - - 22 

" Historical Address," - - - - - - 27 

Proceedings at the Town Hall, - - 64 

Appendix. ...-.- 79 



PHELIMINART AND INTRODL^CTORY. 



The present situation of the Congregational Parish of Sanbornton, 
N. H., is peculiar. Fifty years ago the " Square," where the Church 
is located, was a large business centre ; but now all trade and nearly 
all branches of mechanical industry have deserted that place and gone 
to the neighboring villages. 

The present members of the Church and Society belong to two 
diflferent towns, and go to no less than seven different localities for 
store and post-office accommodations. 

The ecclesiastical tie is now the only one which holds the people to 
this ancient " hill of Zion." This survives all other bonds of connec- 
tion, and is still a strong one. May it never be dissolved. "With the 
view to perpetuating this bond of union by the hallowed memories of 
the past, though chiefly for the purpose of doing honor to the fathers 
and guardians of the Church through all its remarkable history, a 
plan was entered upon in 1870 to celebrate the one hundredth anni- 
versary of its organization, in some appropriate way, the following 
year. 

At a Church meeting, December 31, 1870, an expression was 
made by nearly every member present in favor of attempting such 
centennial observances. 

At a subsequent meeting, March 4, 1871. Dea. Abraham B. San- 
bom, Dea. Joseph Emery, and the Pastor, Rev. Moses T. Runnels, 
were chosen as a " Committee of Arrangements." The day of the 
Rev. Joseph Woodman's ordination in 1771, November J 3, having 
on two occasions afterwards been observed by the Church as an anni- 
versary day, and the evidence having increased that the Church was 
prohaUy formed on that day or very near it, the precise date being 



6 

unknown, the Committee felt at liberty to select none other than No- 
vember 13, 1871, for the Centennial Day, though knowing that the 
lateness of the season might serve as an objection to many minds. 

Finding that this day came on Monday, it was resolved to observe 
also the Sabbath preceding by appropriate services, especially by a 
" Memorial Communion " season m the afternoon. It was also voted 
to invite Prof. Joseph C. Bodwell, of the Hartford Theological Sem- 
inary to deliver the " Historical Address " on Monday the 13 th ; and 
the Rev. Frederic T. Perkins, also of Hartford, Conn., to preach the 
" Sermon" on Sabbath morning of the 12th, with the understanding 
that the two, as sons of the Church, should officiate jointly at the 
Communion Table, on Sabbath, p. m. 

It was further determined io ^x^tQxidi particular ov official invitations 
only to absent members of the Church, and to those who had former- 
ly been members, so far as their present residences could be ascer- 
tained, with the understanding that individual members of the Church 
or Society might privately invite their absent friends at pleasure ; 
also to send general notices of the meeting, a few Sabbaths in ad- 
vance, to all the other churches of Sanbornton, and to those churches 
in Tilton, Franklin, and Hill, which originally were, in part, com- 
posed of Sanbornton material. 

When the anniversary days arrived, the events of a favoring Provi- 
dence proved the wisdom of these arrangements, and crowned them 
with success. The weather was all tijat could have been desired ; 
both days clear, calm, resplendent, and decidedly, though not uncom- 
fortably, cool ; quite unlike the corresponding days in November, 1806, 
when Rev. Mr. Woodman was dismissed and Rev. Mr. Bodwell or- 
dained, which are said to have been remarkably " warm and Summer 
like " ; while now six inches of snow, which had fallen two days be- 
fore, afforded " the first sleighing of the season," and thus gave op- 
portunity to several aged people to be present at the exercises who 
could not otherwise have come. The audiences were composed of 
citizens of the town and friends of the Church from, abroad, all 
evidently in deep sympathy with the occasion. They varied in 
numbers from 300 to 500, completely filling, but not thronging, the 
houses, so that all confusion was avoided. 

All outward circumstances, — except the want of " more time " as 
night on the second day approached — tended to the success of the 
Celebration, and the heart-felt satisfaction of those engaged in it. 

By a vote of the Church, January 6, 1872, copies of the sermon 



of Rev. Mr. Perkins, and the address of Dr. Bodwell, " with sincere 
thanks for the same," were requested for publication. They are here 
presented to the public, with notices of the accompanying exercises, 
and with the added prayer that the great Head of the Church may 
continue to make them a means of spiritual profit and blessing, both 
to the present and to succeeding generations. 
Sanbornton, March 18, 1872. 



ORDER OF EXERCISES. 

The exercises on Sunday a. m., November 12th, in the meeting- 
house (see Appendix, Note A) consisted of the Opening Services and 
Prayer by the Pastor, followed by the " Sermon " of the Rev. F. T- 
Perkins. 

At intermission the Sabbath-School Concert exercises were of a 
memorial character, followed by appropriate remarks from Mr. Jona. 
P. Sanborn, of Tilton. and Mr. Joseph W. Lang, of Meredith Village. 
(See Appendix, Note B.) 

In the p. M., before the Memorial Communion, passages of Scrip- 
ture were read by the Pastor as follows: Exodus, xii. 21-27 ; Deut- 
vi. 20-25; Eph. ii. 13-22. 

Administration of the Sacrament by Rev. Messrs. Bodwell and 
Perkins. 



Programme of Exercises in the meeting-house, November 13th, 
commencing at 10^ a. m. 

1. Announcement by the Marshal. (Appendix Note C.) 

2. Voluntary by the Choir. (Appendix, Note D.) 

3. Invocation and reading of the following select passages of Scrip- 
ture by the Pastor: Ps. xliv. 1-4; Ps. cxxxii. 1-9 and 13-16 ; 
Ps. cxxxiii; Matt, xviii. 15-17 ; Matt. xvi. 16-18; Eph. iv. 4-8 
and 11-13; Col. i. 16-18; Eph. iii. 20-21. 

4. Singing by the Choir. " Denmark." 

5. Prayer by the Rev. T. C. Pratt, of Tilton. 

6. Singing by the Choir : 1025 Sabbath Hymn-Book. 

7. " Historical Address," interluded by the singing of " Lenox " : 
120 Sabbath Hymn-Book, first and last stanzas. 

8. Concluding Prayer by the Rev. N. P. Philbrick, of Northfield. 

9. Singing by the Choir a7id Congregation. "Turner": 462 Sab- 
bath Hymn-Book, first and last stanzas. 

10. Further Announcement by the Marshal and adjournment to the 
Town Hall. 



S E R I\I O N 



GOD AS LOVE IN CHEIST. 

For this centeunial occasion you may have expected some- 
thing historical in character. But remembering that this is 
your communion Sabbath, and that history is to come to-mor- 
row, I have chosen to bring to mind the great fact from which 
have come the life of the Cliurch and all that is of value in 
your history for a hundred years, — 

''GOD IS LOVE." I John, 4, 8. 

The proof of this — the most blessed fact of revelation — is 
given in the next verse : " In this was manifested the love of 
God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten 
♦ Son into the world, that we might live through Him." 

This is not merely a proof but the proof of the fact stated. 
God as love is found neither in nature nor in providence, till 
He is found in Christ. 

Entering the Patent Office at Washington, one bright June 
morning, and examining the works of inventive minds, horn- 
after hour, till brain-weary, and then, yielding to the influ- 
ences of the place, I seemed in the presence of the living 
minds that had been darkly working their way into a friendly 
acquaintance with some of the principles and forces created 
of God for our willing servants, and caught bright glimpses 
of some grand design of good for man, outside of and above 
2 



10 

nature — a foresliadowing of something better, as reddening 
clouds of morning herald the light coming up — I felt some- 
thing of the warmth of a great love beyond ; caught sounds 
as of distant heralds crying,'' Behold your Saviour cometh ! " 

But Nature must feel the touch of a live coal from God's 
altar, before she can utter the great words, " God is love." 
And none but the Son of Man can put that coal to her lips. 
And no ear hears the voice when uttered till that also is 
touched by the finger of Jesus. We come to God in Christ 
to learn that " God is love." 

We stand in the presence of a great fact, hard, yet easy, to 
understand — impossible for the intellect alone, but easy for a 
right heart. 

Power may be handled by the intellect. We find it excit- 
ing to work the great problems respecting the material uni- 
verse. Intellect goes forth exulting also in her successful 
researches amid the exhibitions of wisdom. 

But love is not so handled. Just here, more than any- 
where else, is the blight of sin on the heart, on the power of 
loving, and so on the power of apprehending God. Love 
apprehends Him who is love. 

God would reveal himself, not as power, not as wisdom, nor 
yet as mere goodness, but as love. This term expresses Him 
as no other term does. Other terms, as power and wisdom, 
express attributes. Love expresses that to which the attri- 
butes belong. What if God would be known as Almighty 
Power ? How would He show himself to a world in sin ? 
Who dare imagine what forms of wrath Omnipotence — out 
against the wicked — would assume ? From what unseen 
hands retribution would play upon us ? If displays of power 
were the main thing they would meet us every where. Great 
forces now sleeping quietly all around us, or cheerfully serv- 
ing us, would come forth as ministers of evil. The earth, 
the clouds, the winds, all the elements, are full of mighty 
forces. Should the Almighty body himself forth in these to 
impress the world with the thought that He is all power, sud- 
den terror would seize all hearts. Or, if knowledge was the 
one thing, without reference to beneficent ends, liow unlike 
what now is. 



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1 thus merely start a thought of much interest. Not as 
power or wisdom, but as love God would be known. He is 
not merely lovely, but is Love itself. A particular manifesta- 
tion of this love we call goodness, wisdom, or power, truth, 
mercy, or justice, according to the specific act or work in 
mind. But that which is the source of them all is Love. 
Light may reveal itself in rays red, orange, yellow, green, 
blue, indigo, or violet ; but light is not expressed by either. 
It is the sum of them all. So it is with the love of God. 
Take up any line of truth and follow it out, and we come 
into the light of love. 

Here then we stand in a universe illimitable, and through 
all its parts, laws, and ends, shines a light from a Sun beyond. 

Upon the leaves of Nature God writes what He can; but 
only in the record of his Son can be found the three syllables, 
" God is love." 

Here it may be well to forestall objections. From the fact 
of sin, from clouds of darkness over-hanging us, from sorrows 
experienced, and woes denounced, objections arise. These 
may spring from ignorance or wickedness. Objections have 
sometimes been urged against God's wisdom. Astronomers 
have found among the heavenly bodies, irregularities, seem- 
ingly, against the perfection of God's work. A royal astron- 
omer of England — Alphonso — impiously said, " If I had been 
by when God made the universe, I could have given Him 
some good advice." But advanced science finds established 
order in the seeming variations, and hence proofs /or, not 
against creative wisdom. Hence the irresistible conviction 
that, with a correct understanding of all, we should find per- 
fect wisdom in all. Science, as well as the Bible, rebukes 
the impiety that would instruct the All-wise. So it turns out, 
also, respecting objections to Divine goodness: as, e. g., the 
objection arising from our exposure to suffering. A careful 
examination shows that God has guarded against unneces- 
sary suftering ; that in covering the surface of the human 
system with sensitiveness, special pains have been taken to 
reduce suffering to the lowest point consistent with the safety 
of the body and the greatest practicable amount of happiness. 



12 

With increasing light comes the conviction that, could we see 
through every thing, we should find in every provision of the 
Creator , bright evidence of perfect goodness, and that, at the 
last, there will remain on pure minds, no shadow of doubt of 
Divine Goodness in any respect whatsoever. Here, too, what 
seemed an objection turns out a witness for God. 

So in regard to God as Love. Finite minds find difficul- 
ties in the fact and in the consequences of sin. But what if 
unable^to answer every question about the creation and treat- 
ment of moral beings ? We may be sure that, as the appear- 
ance of imperfection in creation results from our ignorance, 
so seeming objections to God's love spring from our blindness 
or perverseness, and will, in the end, proclaim that love. 

From what we do know we are assured that,when fully un- 
derstood, every thing in creation, in providence, and in re- 
demption, will prove the offspring and the expression of 
Infinite Love. 

At the outset we find that the very difficulties standing in 
our way, the very sins and sorrows confronting us, do this 
against God's expressed wish ; that they have broken in upon 
a system of order, and are at war upon its intended ends. 
Disorders and rebellions against the Federal Government 
prove, not the badness of the government, but of the men un- 
der it. 

Then by the side of these very evils, thus intruding 
themselves, are special provisions to check, overrule, and re- 
move them. God meets them in such a way as to show that 
there can be in his heart nothing but good will. When we 
come to see far enough we shall find that Omnipotence does 
not step in to prevent these evils because wisdom and good- 
ness forbid. 

But come to positive proof. " In this was manifested the 
love of God toward us, because that God sent his only be- 
gotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him." 
Amid all other proofs, this one stands as a bright sun amid 
glimmering stars. 

Love is estimated by its expressions in deeds, in sacrifices 
and sufferings : and these expressions are measured by the 



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characters making them. Thus we measure the devotion of 
loyal Americans to their institutions as expressed in their sac- 
rifices to save them, and these sacrifices, the great heart-offer- 
ings of intelligent Christian men and women. But what if 
all in the service of the country had been as exalted as the 
President ; great as the Prophets ; good as the Apostles ? 
Then how expressive the devotion, though for their own in- 
stitutions and their own country ! But greater still the offer- 
ing so far as it was for the poor and the oppressed. But what 
if the noblest of Europe — kings and emperors — had crossed 
the Atlantic to lay down their lives for the sake of free insti- 
tutions for us and for the world ? What if the greatest and 
purest before the throne of God had taken our places and 
suffered for us ? Then what an offering upon the Altar of 
Freedom ! 

But the Lord of angels, the King of kings — God — came 
in the flesh and laid His life upon the altar of Redemption. 
What thought can reach the height whence the Lord Jesus 
came ? or take the great steps down to the low depths to 
which he went ? What an expression of love ! What a 
movement of God ! 

And for whom ? Not for holy angels — not for beings ready 
to hail Him as a deliverer and bless Him for His goodness. 
For whom ? " God commendeth His love toward us, in that 
while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." For us sin- 
ners — for us rebels against a perfect government — rebels 
worse than any ever in arms against our government. For 
guiltiest rebels Immanuel died. 

For our President to sacrifice his life to save our government 
was a great sacrifice ; but what to the offering of the Son of 
God for us — for us all — even for those now sinning by reject- 
ing Him. With anything short of love as the sum and 
substance of His being, could God have made such a mani- 
festation of Himself? 

We were to be reached and lifted, not by the hand of Om- 
nipotence, but only by the heart of love divine. Our Lord 
came forth in a form like our own ; entered the ordinary con- 
ditions, met the common necessities of trial and temptation, 



14 

suffered death ! that He might come within the reach of our 
sympathies, within the embrace of our affections. 

With this manifestation of love we are all familiar. From 
childhood we have heard and read it, thought and sung of it ; 
and yet it is so great we cannot grasp it. God is not to be 
brought within the little measure of our thought. Beside, 
the heart, not the mind, finds the true God. Love finds Him 
who is Love. 

I can only touch the hem of the great subject, suggest 
points to awaken thought, that thinking we may open our 
hearts, and opening our hearts may come to know God. 
0, Spirit of Love ! Touch our hearts — open them — manifest 
in them Him who is Love ! 

Advancing as far as finite minds can go amid the wonders 
of power and wisdom, the wisest feel that they have only 
reached the borders of creation. Beyond all seen and known 
is infinitely more — beyond all is God I How, then, measure 
this love which moves the Infinite One in His ways, shines 
through everything, spreads itself over all, is felt even by our 
wicked hearts ? As the sun comes down upon the earth, 
spreads its light over it, sends its heat into it, covers it with 
the blessedness of life, so the God of love comes upon our 
race, would enter all hearts and fill them with the light of 
life and love. 

Of the proofs of this love, of some of its blessed fruits, we 
can speak. From this ocean of God's Being — never by us to 
be fathomed nor surrounded — we may drink. 

We help our conceptions by what we know of human love. 
A mother's love is wonderful. It can bear any burden, en- 
dure any suffering, any death, for a child. A mother with 
her babe overtaken by a cold storm of snow, wiandering, 
weary and lost, lies down, the better to shelter her little one, 
and give it the warmth of her bosom. As it grows cold she 
spares more and more of the covering of her own suffering, 
freezing body, and wraps the babe safely. In the embrace of 
a frozen mother the child was found with the clothing and 
warmth of her love. When, last fall, the flames, with the 
speed of a race-horse, were rushing through the forests of the 



15 

Northwest, they encircled a mother with her child. She hol- 
lowed out a place in the earth for her child, then, covering it 
with her own body, awaited the flames and remained till, 
burned to a crisp, her lifeless form sunk too heavily down and 
smothered the life which her love had saved from the fire. 

The love of companion for companion can not only suffer 
but find joy in so doing, and make its object feel that neither 
father nor mother, son nor daughter, is so dear ; a love so 
pure, so strong, that only love for God can be purer or 
stronger. Feeling this love, dwelling in it as in an atmos- 
phere of love, and able to characterize such a heart only 
by saying it is all love, we come to understand something of 
Divine love — but only as, from a single drop, we understand 
the ocean whence the drop comes. Then we learn something 
of Divine love from its effects, its, production of love like itself . 

As all the waters of the continents in dew, rain, snow, in 
springs, rivers, and lakes, come from the ocean, raised by 
the sun and borne in clouds on wings of winds, so all true 
love and the joys thence arising come from the great ocean — 
God — through our Sun of Righteousness. Who measure the 
good thus brought to us ? Who number the streams so full, 
filling myriads with holy joy, causing exulting anthems to 
burst forth from happy hearts ? What the fountain compared 
with wliich all this is but a drop ? 

To heighten our conceptions of this work of love, we re- 
member in what kind of hearts this is done. A mother's love 
for the true and loving child is wonderful. But the love 
that holds out, grows strong, finds ways of expression towards 
the child wayward and wicked ; the love that can hold on to 
liim, reach him in his farthest wanderings, find his heart in 
his worst degradation, and in holiest communings bear him 
up and hold him up before the throne of grace, and there 
wrestle in pleadings more tlian if for life ; the love that, 
through God, can soften and save, that can awaken love like 
itself — 0, that is a greater love. 0, the love of a good 
mother! Thank God for the priceless treasure ! 

So the conjugal love for the true and noble, responding to 
its every sign and token, is great. But the love that Uves, 



16 

moves, and has its being for one who has put off his human- 
ity oncl has put on the ferocity of a brute ; the love that can 
live, grow strong, turn God-like in expression, win, save such 
an one, bring him back to a better love than his first — this is 
most wonderful. 0, the wealth of affection in such a heart ! so 
like Christ's love that it could go to the cross for its object ! 

But the love of God in Christ, doing the wisest, kindest, 
best possible things for beings whose guilt and degradation no 
language can express ; love making the greatest sacrifices, 
most affecting demonstrations of itself for enemies ; Love In- 
carnate moving among the guilty in all the winning forms of 
goodness ; stooping down to touch bosoms warmed by no love 
in return, pressing down to the lowest, touching hearts the 
hardest, opening the gates of life before the worst ; love that 
can reach cold, dark, guilty spirits, make them all pure, glow- 
ing, God-like in love ; the love that can do this we compre- 
hend only as we comprehend God. 

Could we now gather up the trophiesof this victorious love, 
have in one view the whole work of Love Licarnate in souls 
purified, enter the inner life and learn the joys unutterable in 
fellowship with the God of love, foresee the growth — the 
future greatness — of souls in love, and still with a power of 
growth above all present power of conception, then might we 
have some worthy view of the work of Him who is Love. 

We sometimes feel the power of this Divine love, are 
warmed, lifted, filled with it. But we cannot express it. 
Many others have felt the same. 0, how many here in con- 
nection with this church during the century past, have rejoiced 
in more than could be expressed ! They have comprehended 
something of the breadth and length, depth and height of the 
love of Christ which passeth knowledge ; and so they came 
to be filled with all the fulness of Him who is Love. 

This — all this — here, as the fruit of that love. 

But how much more there, in the presence of Love, where 
all are changed into the same image ! Some very dear to us, 
beloved pastors, deacons, and members of this church, and of 
others, are in that home of love — some long there ! How 
much they know of Him who is Love ! 



17 

There is a great multitude there. Many more are to be 
gathered in. We, many of us, enjoy foretastes, expect soon 
to be filled full with that love. 0, that all might ! 

Note this also : that God is revealed not only in what His 
love does, but in what it is fitted to do. 

Made to love and be loved of God, every heart should be 
filled with His love. He would have a great tide of love flow 
through every bosom. He would have every heart-beat a 
throbbing of pure love. So the God of love would have it. 
What if here, for a century, the love of God had wrought 
out all that it is fitted to do in every heart and life ? What 
blessed results in this old church and town ! Such a state — 
blessed beyond our present conceptions — redeeming love will 
yet produce. Bad as the world is, cold in spiritual death, 
Divine love, as the breath of life, shall be breathed over this 
great vale of death. As the Prophet stretched himself upon 
the widow's son, hands upon hands, face to face, till by his 
warmth and life he restored the child to his mother ; so God, 
in Christ, comes to us with all the warmth and life of Infinite 
Love Incarnate, to come into contact with our race, to impart 
His life to dead souls. 

The^Finlanders have a beautiful legend to show the power 
of love. It states that a mother having lost her only son, 
sought him with unwearied diligence, with long and patient 
toil. At last she found his remains, torn into a thousand 
pieces, at the bottom of the river of death. Eagerly gather- 
ing the scattered fragments of her child, she folded them to 
her bosom, sang to them, and rocked them, till, such was the 
warmth and power of her love, it restored her boy to form 
and life. 

Thus our Father in heaven loves and seeks us all. We, 
spiritually dead, should remain forever in hopeless ruin but 
for this love, holier than a mother's, which seeks us, lifts us 
to the Divine bosom, sings to us of Bethlehem, Gethsemane, 
and Calvary ; and so heals our wounds, restores to our souls 
the lost life of love, and fills with eternal joy. Amazing- 
love ! God Incarnate, that Ho might search us out, be 
bruised for our iniquities, torn to pieces for us, that in dying 
3 



18 

He might by the wonderful power of His love, reach our 
dead souls and restore us to life immortal ! 

Dear friends, this love it is that comes to us now, seeks 
us, speaks to us, tries to save us — you, me, all. 

0, will not all your hearts open to this love, be made active 
by it ? find your heaven in it ? Thus only by the heart can 
we come to know that " God is love." 

This vieiv of God should correct some wrong impressions re- 
specting his Providfnces. 

They look dark sometimes, seem unkind. In spite of His 
goodness suspicions exist that back of all is something very 
different from love. There is enough in God's treatment of 
sinners to disturb their fears. There is what seems to neu- 
tralize the tokens of benevolence. How can the sinner, con- 
scious that he is against God, rid himself of the idea that 
God is against him ? Looking through the medium of a 
troubled conscience, how can he see the God of love in any 
thing ? But as we may now look into the face of Immanuel, 
are we obliged to look at God through guilt and fear ? must 
we always find dark powers in the trials of life ? To be rid 
of all such feelings we must find God, not only as kind, lovely, 
but as Love itself, and as love working all His works. 
Above, beyond all works of power, God has had His eye on 
the Cross to be set up for us. 

He with such power. He with such wisdom, He with such 
goodness, did in the beginning purpose to come in person to 
show us that He made all — manages all, in love. What- 
ever long ages He took to fit up this world for moral beings, 
they were ages in which love was working for us. Hear the 
wonderful words: ''From before the foundation of the world. 
Re loved us.'^ The love that from the foundation of the 
world, in the foundation of the world was working for us ; 
the love that endured the cross for us, that now reigns and 
intercedes for us ; tliat same love appoints our discipline — 
every trial, every cross — in all aiming to bring us to the 
highest possible human experience of God, as love, in the 
heart. With this revelation, this experience of God, the soul, 



19 

even in darkest hours, moves in the clear light of Divine love ; 
amid greatest troubles rests in sweet peace on the calm ocean 
of Infinite Love. 

See Hoiv to regard the ivant of enjoyment in G-od. 

Though not now happy in God, many think they shall be 
hereafter, because He is Love. Is He not Love now ? Why 
not happy in God now ? Why no happy communings with 
Him, as of a living soul with a living God ? Surrounded on 
all sides with the full ocean of Divine blessings, is your soul 
still athirst ? Why ? Because estranged from God : and, so 
remaining, you must thirst forever. The simple fact that 
God is love does not now make you happy, and may never make 
you happy. Not to love God in Christ, not to know in your 
heart that He is love, is to be not happy. 

The hearts great need — a discovery of God in Christ. 

What awful forms the gods of the human mind assume ! 
Some Moloch, Beelzebub, Mars, Kali. Gods of blood, lust, 
wrath. Images shocking stand for ideas more shocking. 
Even now, what ideas of God! Gods of war of some name, 
demons of some shape, malignants of some kind. Even in 
the civilized world some law, some principle, abstraction, im- 
personality ; something distant, cold, dead — such are the gods of 
reason, of philosophy. Or the universe robbed of God and 
then called God — empty, cold, soulless Pantheism — leaving 
the soul of man empty, cold, dead ! In Christian as in 
heathen lands, to how many is the God of love " unknown ! " 
To all unrenewed hearts He is the "unknown." Not till 
turned from all forms of idolatry, not till we find God in 
Christ Jesus, can we know the God of love. But alas ! how 
many find nothing in Christ to admire, nothing to trust, 
nothing to love. Dear friends, God in Christ comes to you, 
seeks you, longs to be recognized, loved. Open your hearts, 
let the Holy Spirit reveal our Lord Jesus to your hearts, that 
you may joyfully exclaim, " My Lord ! my God ! " 



20 



See How to regard the means used to bring us to Christ. 

They are not the arbitrary arrangements of one with no 
living interest in us. They are the expressions of love. In 
them the yearning heart of God is seeking our hearts. At 
this moment He draws near to you. Do all hearts open with 
a welcome ? The fable is that the Rocky lips of Memnon 
moved in music at the first touch of the morning beams. The 
story is that as Florence Nightingale performed her midnight 
ministrations in Crimean hospitals, the grateful lips of suffering 
soldiers kissed her shadow as it quietly passed over their pil- 
lows. The record is that in Jerusalem many, moved by the 
wonders of love wrought by the Apostles, brought their sick 
and laid them in beds in the streets, that at least the shadow 
of Peter passing by, might fall on some of them. And should 
not the shadow of Immanuel, falling on us, move our hearts to 
love and our lips to praise ? That shadow, in this service, 
passes over you, rests upon you now. Nay, not the shadow ; 
the Lord is here. 

God in Christ comes near, breathes out His love over us. 
At this moment the Lord Jesus reveals the great proof of 
His love — His Cross. Behold it ! behold it ! At this moment 
God the Spirit, moving on our hearts, would breathe into 
them the breath of life. In ways numberless Love Infinite 
seeks all our hearts. 0, yield to the power of Infinite Love, 
open your hearts to it, welcome it, be folded to its bosom, 
be warmed to life by it, find your bliss in it. Will you ? 

Or must the very God of love turn away from you ? The 
Lord of life banished from your heart ! Eemember ! the 
same love that calls to life, tells of death. The same love 
that wept over Jerusalem, left it to its doom. The same love 
that will say, " come ye blessed," will say, " depart ye cursed." 

Which utterance, dear friends, shall we hear, '' come," or 
«' depart ?" Which ? What do our hearts now say to God, 
" come," or " depart ? " If in love we say, come, come, be 
mine, come fill me, come reign in me, then shall we hear 



21 

the glad welcome, " come ye blessed ! " 0, the joy, the 
glory of that welcome ! 

But if any heart can say to the God of love, and persist in 
saying, " depart, depart from me," then, then, must you, 
poor soul, hear the same words — your own words — " depart ; 
depart from me ! " 



22 



REMARKS OF REV. DR. BODWELL AT THE 
SACRAMENT. 



After fitting allusion to the Scripture read, and the insti- 
tution of this supper by our blessed Lord, he continued sub- 
stantially as follows : 

'' I am most unwilling to disturb the impression which was 
made on all our minds by the very beautiful and appropriate 
discourse of my dear brother and early friend, but in compli- 
ance with the request of your Pastor, I will give you, briefly, 
some of my recollections of former deacons of this church, 
who have long since gone to their rest. I see them still, as 
they moved with solemn step along the aisles of the old meet- 
inghouse, distributing the sacramental bread and wine. Some 
of them were accustomed to sit always in the " deacons' pew," 
directly under and in front of the high pulpit. One of these 
was Dea. Simeon Moulton, of very dark hair and eyes, and 
pale, consumptive face, who impressed me as a quiet and a 
reverend man. He died when I was still a child. 

Dea. Benjamin Philbrick sat by his side ; a man whose 
high conscientiousness and sweet Christian simplicity, and 
strong attachment to the House of God, some of us well re- 
member. Though he lived so far away, no summer heat 
nor winter cold could keep him from the Sabbath service, the 
monthly concert on the first Monday afternoon of each month, 
and the preparatory lecture. Hardly was his natural strength 
abated at ninety years of age. Certainly his intellect was 
clear, and his affection for this church, and his concern for 
its spiritual prosperity were strong to the last. 



23 

A worthy associate of these two good men, Moulton and 
Philbrick, was Dea. Joseph Sanborn. He was a man of rare 
endowments, of strong understanding, with a love of Biblical 
study, an easy command of words, an habitually devout and 
reverent spirit, and a voice of unusual depth and richness. 
His gift in prayer was marvellous. How often did I hear the 
remark made by strangers who listened to him, ' That man 
ought to have been a preacher.' 

One other man who ' used the office of deacon well ' in 
this church, and whom I love to remember, was the upright, 
generous, and fearless Moses Emery ; of warm sympathies 
and an unswerving probity, ready to every good work. I seem 
to hear still his voice in the prayer-meeting, whose peculiar 
tone expressed so well the sincerity and earnestness of his 
spirit. 

Such were the good men whose united terms of office cov- 
ered the entire period from my earliest recollection to the 
time when I left my pleasant home to enter college. The fra- 
grance of their good names abides with us still. How im- 
pressive was the scene to me, even as a child, when those 
men, with my beloved and honored father, ministered in this 
solemn sacramental service. AVould that the mantle of their 
deep sincerity did more truly rest upon us all !" 



24 



REMARKS OF REV. MR. PERKINS AT THE 
SACRAMENT. 



After alluding to the sketches just given by Mr. Bodwell, 
" as pictures passed before us," he remarked that could we 
have all'the scenes and characters of the century unrolled 
before us intone panoramic view, we sliould have, with what- 
ever sombre shades and even dark colors, also many illumin- 
ated scenes and characters shining with Divine brightness. 

The fact was then emphasized that the reason why this his- 
tory is not all dark, is to be found in the great truth consid- 
ered in the morning, that every bright scene and illuminated 
page in all this history of one hundred years, written or un- 
written, that every blessed influence and transformation, 
every comfort and hope ; that all the good that has brightened 
and gladdened personal histories among these hills and val- 
leys, had come from the one original fountain — the God of 
love through Jesus Christ. 

Reference was made to the fact that this church has been 
signally blessed in its ministers, having in each just the man 
for his time, and in having them all live among their people 
till death. Mention was made of '' Father Bodwell " as the 
man of whom all his parishioners, for fifty years, said, 
" Blessed are the peace-makers ! " A hearty tribute was paid 
to his successor, Mr. Boutwell, with an account of his last 
Sabbath — how, as he was borne to the church in extreme fee- 
bleness, and during all the services, especially as he read from 
the 17th chapter of John, partook of the memorials of our 
Lord's death, and read the Hymn, 

" We speak of the realms of the blest ; '' 



25 

he seemed to be filled with blessed anticipations and bright 
visions of those realms, and to enter with deep meaning into 
the lines, 

"And shortly I also shall know 
And feel, what it is to be there." 

In illustration of the blessed work of the gospel in this 
church, one of its noble women was called to mind — the 
speaker's grandmotlier Sanborn — a woman whose large heart 
and generous sympathies were ever active in ministering to 
the needy, the sick, and suffering ; a beloved member of this 
church for seventy-five years, the wife of " the beloved physi- 
cian," and to the end of her long life of ninety-six years, blest 
with an active mind and a cheerful spirit, which to the last, 
shed over this community most happy and blessed influences. 
Only a few years before her death, when telling how much 
she enjoyed reading the gospel by John, she said, '' I read 
twelve chapters right off the other day." Allusion was made 
to her bearing at a time of great and sudden bereavement,.by 
the drowning of her oldest son. Col. Christopher Sanborn. 
Speaking of that affliction many years afterwards, she said, 
with all the animation of youth, " Why, Frederic, the Son of 
Man was with me as I walked my room, in the great sorrow 
of my heart, as really and as distinctly as you are now." 

Blessed woman ! Clear and bright to the last ! And when 
her speech and sight had failed, she expressed her joy in the 
Lord by an eager, upward gaze, and by clapping her feeble 
hands, till she " entered in through the gates into the city " 
of our God. 

What the value of the grace of Christ to her during her 
long life ! What the measure of comfort and of joy to all 
who here have believed in the Lord and have gone or are on 
their way to the Better Land ! 

Mr. Perkins made brief but grateful mention of the great 
revival in 1816, Avhen his mother was converted, and to that 
of 1831, when he bowed to the Lord. The ages endless will 
reveal more and more of the blessed work of God here dur- 
ing the century now past. 
4 



26 

To excite a thought of the value of what has come to the 
community through the church, the supposition was raised 
that all that the Gospel has put into the history of the town 
were taken out of it ; and it was maintained that but for the 
church of Christ, the history of the town — if history it could 
have had — would have been the history of men roaming over 
these hills in the wildness of barbarism, and these acres of 
earth now fertile would have remained wild and worthless. 
An appeal was made to Christians to make the future of the 
church better than the past, and all were called upon to con- 
sider the value of the church of God to a community, and to 
understand their place and duty in regard to it. 



27 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 



The glory of New England has been its Christian men. 
They came to a wilderness and changed it to a garden of 
God. The roughness of its climate and wildness of its 
scenery, were far better suited to the mettle of those heroic 
souls than the sunny fields of the south. It was a concinnity 
such as God delights in ; a combination by His foreordaining 
Providence, out of which grandest results have been wrought, 
far less in a great material prosperity, in the productiveness 
of the soil under inclement skies, and the beauty of multitu- 
dinous villages and cities, than in the production of men, 
whose influence is felt to-day, not only wherever a Christian 
civilization is known, but quite beyond the bounds of civili- 
zation, to the uttermost ends of the earth. It is obvious to 
remark how the brave spirits of the men have grappled with 
almost unparalleled physical obstacles, and subdued them ; but 
is it not just as true that those very difficulties have developed 
in the men a measure of intellectual and moral power which, 
without the struggle with those difficulties, they never could 
have possessed ? Our great statesman, Daniel Webster, ut- 
tered a truth of which God is directly the author, when, in 
reply to the sneering inquiry of a conceited son of the south, 
" What has New Hampshire produced ? " he proudly an- 
swered, " Granite and men ! " 

The names which New Hampshire has given to the pages 
of history, in jurisprudence, and statesmanship, and theology, 



28 

and education, and literature, are such as her sons will never 
have reason to be ashamed of. And yet, in a grand summing 
up of the fruits which have come of the labors and sacrifices 
of the Christian men who have made New England, must 
we not admit immeasurably the largest aggregate result in 
the quiet godly lives of that vast multitude of men and wo- 
men whose names have hardly been pronounced outside the 
boundaries of their own town, or the fellowship of their own 
church. 

This world was made for Jesus Christ; '' by Him and for 
Him," an inspired Apostle says. The end will be accom- 
plished when His elect of all the nations shall be gathered 
into His everlasting spiritual kingdom. Then the last will 
be first and the first last. That which men call glory now 
will then disappear forever, like the temples and palaces of a 
great city swept by the devouring fire. 

It is true, at the same time, that Christianity is the grand 
source of whatever is most valuable in the present life, and 
according to present earthly standards. For almost twenty 
centuries it has supplied the most steady and healthful stimu- 
lus to all the industries which have built cities, and spanned 
rivers, and enlarged the domain of science, and brought na- 
tions into those intimate relations of commerce which are the 
surest guarantee of peace ; constituting, meanwhile, most 
beautiful of all, innumerable homes of rest, and love, and 
joy. 

Does not the history of your town during the first century 
of its existence, furnish a continuous illustration of these 
truths ? As we look back to-day through the period of a 
hundred years, what, in your estimation, have been the things 
of chiefest value in all that time among the hills' and valleys 
which combine to make up the unsurpassed natural beauty of 
this town of Sanbornton ? There can be but one answer : 
its churches and its Christian homes. Take these away and 
nothing would remain worth remembering. All the rest 
would be of hardly more value than the Indian relics which 
are occasionally found in plowing up its soil. 

The organization of the first church, therefore, and the set- 



29 

tlement of the first minister, one hundred years ago, were 
events of deeper interest and significance, than tlie incor- 
poration of the town. On the first day of March, 1770, San- 
bornton was incorporated as part of the great empire of His 
British Majesty, George III., and the first town meeting was 
held under his appointment and royal permission, on some 
day between that first of March and the tenth day of the 
May next following. This was in the house of Lieut. Chase 
Taylor, father of the Hon. Nathan Taylor, the first house 
built in Sanbornton, and occupied to-day by Mr. Thomas 
Taylor, great-grandson of its builder and first occupant. 

No record of that first town-meeting remains, although the 
room in which it was held is still shown. From subsequent 
records we learn that Aaron Sanborn, Cole Weeks, and Ste- 
phen Gale were there and then elected first selectmen of 
the town ; an event of interest to us, forasmuch as for many 
years after the incorporation of Sanbornton no more impor- 
tant business was transacted by tlie selectmen than that 
which pertained to tlie church of God. From the day on 
which those Christian men, whose names we venerate as the 
fathers of our town, first penetrated the noble forests which 
then crowned all these magnificent hills, their primary con- 
cern was for a minister and a meeting-house, a church of liv- 
ing members, and stated Christian ordinances, for themselves 
and for us, their posterity. Accordingly, at the second town- 
meeting, held on Tuesday, March 26, 1771, in the house of 
Daniel Sanborn, subsequently, with enlargement, for many 
years the residence of Dr. Benaiah Sanborn, and now occu- 
pied by Mr. Thomas M. Jaques, a very important item of 
business was the passing of a vote " to appoint and clear a 
place for a meeting-house this year ; to set said house on ye 
center range line, near ye main rode ; to build it by ye sale of 
ye pews, and according to ye plan drawn of ye same ; to put up 
ye frame and cover it within 2 year from ^lay next, and 
cliuse a committee to vandue of ye pews and stuff for build- 
ing said house." 

The history of the building of that first mccting-house on the 
hill, which some of us so well remember, would make a deeply 



30 

interesting chapter in the annals of Sanbornton. How the forests 
rang with the sturdy strokes of the axe, startling the bears and 
wolves then so numerous ; how, on the appointed day, the in- 
habitants of the neighboring towns came to help at the rais- 
ing, and then how, in the poverty of the people, the necessity 
of incessant toil in clearing away the forests and ploughing 
and planting for their own sustenance, and the absence of 
some of their best men to fight in our country's great battle 
for liberty, the work went slowly on for a series of years, and 
the first minister, the Rev. Joseph Woodman, preached in it 
to those noble-hearted men and their noble-hearted wives 
through summer's heat and winter's cold, when it had no 
pulpit and no pews, and was less comely in its exterior, and 
less comfortable within, than the barns of some of you are 
to-day — these are things which our fathers told us, and which 
may be gleaned from the early records of the town. 

It need occasion us little surprise that the vote passed on 
the 26th of March, 1771, was not carried into effect. Wheth- 
er they managed to " appoint and clear a place for a meet- 
ing-house " that year, we do not know ; but it is quite cer- 
tain that they failed to " put up ye frame and cover it, within 
2 year from May next." The delay, however, only made 
them the more resolute, for, nearly three years later, on the 
thirteenth day of December, 1773, a special town-meeting 
was called for the sole object of taking further measures for 
building and " compleating " the meeting-house. The hearts 
of our fathers were resolute on that cold December day, as 
they looked on each other's faces in one of the large, unfin- 
ished rooms, as we suppose, of Daniel Sanborn's house, with- 
in a stone's throw of the spot where we are now assembled. 
They prayed, doubtless, then deliberated, and looking wist- 
fully toward the hill where, according to their former action, 
the frame of the meeting-house should have been put up and 
covered in more than six months before, they stoutly resolved 
" to build the m. h. on an entirely new plan, viz: sixty feet 
in length by 43^ feet in wedth,and to build 36 pews below as 
by said plan ; to choose a committee to vandue off ye pews 
and stuff, and to build said house as far as said pews will go. 



31 

with ye money that ye proprietors of the town have and shall 
vote for said house ; " also that " the meeting-house nhaU he 
raised, boarded, shingled, and ye lower flowers laid, and ye 
lower part of ye house glassed, by the first of November, 
1774; that the house sliall be finished so far as the pew money 
shall go towards it by November 1, 1775 ; " and, finally, "that 
all ye stuff for ye frame shall be brought to ye meeting-house 
green by ye last of April next, and ye boards, shingles, and 
other covering by ye last of September next." 

Is it not strange, when we remember the circumstances of 
that dark and perilous time, that our fathers had the courage 
to resolve on so much ? That they found it simply impos- 
sible to accomplish all they marked out in the time specified, 
we can easily believe. • 

At the town-meeting of 1777, one vote passed was " 850 of 
ye money in ye selectmen's hands to be laid out on ye meet- 
ing-house this year." On the following New Year's day, 
namely, on the first of January, 1778, the town met for the 
first time in the new meeting-house, and there all the town- 
meetings of Sanbornton were held for almost half a century, 
till the year 1834, when the town declined to repair the house, 
and surrendered it, by a vote, to the proprietorship of this 
Society. Evidently the house was exceeding bare and com- 
fortless on that New Year's day, 1778, for it is recorded that 
on the 26th of March, 1782, it was voted " to get thirteen thou- 
sand of claboard nails, and one hundred feet of glass, for tlie 
meeting-house ; also, 2000 shingle tens, and one thousand 
double tens." One year and a half later it was " voted to 
finish ye gallery in ye meeting-house," and " to build seven 
pews at each end of sd gallery, and six pews on ye fore side, 
to be equally divided as to length, and to be 5^ feet wide 
within board." 

On the 23d of June, 1783, a special town-meeting was 
held in accordance with the warrant of the constable, to set- 
tle " disputes " that had arisen " concerning some of ye pews 
in ye meeting-house," and a seat for the children was voted 
in " an ally of two feet and four inches wide." 

During all this time, though they had had a settled minister 



32 

twelve years, and had helped generously in the building of 
his house, there was no pulpit in their meeting-house, for at 
a special town-meeting lield August 15, 1785, Lieut. Chase, 
Ens. True, and Ens. Nathaniel Grant were chosen a commit- 
tee to build a pulpit with the money which had been raised 
for the building of the pews, and they were instructed to 
build it by the March meeting of the following year. It was 
not their fault that when the fathers assembled at that March 
meeting they saw no pulpit in their meeting-house, or at least 
only one that was partly finished, for at that meeting, March 
28, 1786, the same committee was re-appointed, with instruc- 
tions to finish the pulpit by the first of October following, as 
far as the money raised for the pews would do it. We may 
believe that in that year, 1786, the good people of Sanborn- 
ton had the inexpressible pleasure, on some bright Sunday, to 
see the minister who had been with them fifteen years, and 
baptized their children, and buried their dead, ascend to that 
high pulpit, which had been so long in building, and to praise 
its beauty as they returned to their homes ; for in August of 
the very next year the town " voted to build two pews at 
west end of men's seats, on lower floor, in lower part of 
meeting-house, and two pews at east end of women's seats ; 
about six feet square, the selectmen to sell said pews and 
procure ye pay." A strange picture, as it seems to us, that 
congregation must have presented to the good minister, as lie 
looked upon them from his high pulpit painted thick of a 
deep mahogany color, the men by themselves at one end, and 
the women by themselves at the other end, with a seat for 
the children " in an ally of two feet and four inches wide." 

So far as the records inform us, we are led to suppose that 
during these first years the care of the meeting-house was no 
expense to the town. But this could not be expected to last 
always, albeit no lighting and tending of fires was included, 
and accordingly we find it recorded that on the 5th day of 
April, 1790, the town " voted James Sanborn to keep key of 
the meeting-house, and to sweep said house, at one dollar per 
year." 

For the next ten years after the pulpit was finished, reso- 



33 

lutions were passed from time to time, for lathing and plas- 
tering, sliingling, " painting the rough," and underpinning, 
till the last stone was placed under the heavy sill of the back 
or north side, in the year 1797. At the same time they 
voted not to "• build a steeple and porch the present year," 
and that, as we know, was never done. That much good 
preaching and praying was done in that homely and unfin- 
ished meeting-house on the hill, it is impossible to doubt. 
We can as easily believe that the songs of Zion had no mean 
rendering in the trumpet tones of the men who leveled the 
forests, and the full rich treble of their wives and daugliters, 
with the accompaniment of stringed instruments, which our 
fathers were skilled to play. Long slips were made for their 
special accommodation, running from east to west on the 
ground floor, and near the centre of the house. There, till 
the last year of the century, they stood up in the midst f>f 
the worshipping assembly, and, with heart and voice, poured 
forth Old Hundred and Hamburg, and Lenox, and North- 
field. On that last year of the century, the town decided to 
give them a place better suited to the valuable services they 
rendered. On the 7th of May, 1779, it was " voted to sell 
the singing pews on the floor in the town meeting-house, 
and build a singing pew in the gallery, the front seats in gal- 
lery to be used for a singing pew." 

Some of us remember well those long pews in front of the 
pulpit on the floor of the house. One of them was occupied 
by Esq. Jeremiah Sanborn, another by Matthew Perkins, 
Esq. 

Nothing farther appears on record in relation to finishing 
the meeting-house. We may reasonably conclude that it was 
completed about a quarter of a century from that troublous 
day on whicli some of our fathers hastily left the framing to 
join their comrades in arms at Lexington. The wonder is, 
that it was accomplished in so sliort a time as twenty-five 
years. For it must be remembered that they were battling 
with tlie wilderness all the while, and bearing tlicir full share 
in the struggle for national existence ; and all the while they 
were making annual appropriations for the constfuctiuu of 
5 



34 

roads and the building of bridges and pounds ; for the education 
of their children, and for bounties for the killing of wolves 
wliich destroyed their sheep. 

There is a man still with us* who has lived eighty-seven 
years in Sanbornton from his birth, and who well remembers 
how he and his brother Chase used to dread to go" only a 
little distance from the house to fetch the sheep home at eve- 
ning, and how the night was made hideous by the howling of 
the wolves congregated in packs near the spot where the bark 
mill and tan-pits afterward were. 

It is interesting to note how generously our fathers taxed 
themselves for the education of their children in those stern 
and troublous times. They believed in the peculiar blessed- 
ness of having children, in great numbers, and so did their 
wives, and it was well for Sanbornton and for us that they 
did : for a nobler race of men and women we may not often 
see, than the children born in those days grew to be. It was 
a good day for Sanbornton, and many of us remember it well, 
when all these houses, large and small, were full of children, 
and all the school-houses in the town could hardly contain 
them in winter, when the large boys and girls could be 
spared to attend. Will it ever again be said of Sanbornton, 
as it was said of old Jerusalem, after the return from the 
long captivity, that the streets are " full of girls and boys play- 
ing in the streets thereof"? 

Let us see what was done to educate our grandfathers 
and grandmothers when they were children. At the annual 
March meeting held twenty-four days before the first anniversary 
of the battle of Lexington, Thirty Dollars were raised " for 
to hier a school," and one hundred dollars for the roads. 
The year following, 1777, they voted " forty dollars, in addi- 
tion to what was raised last year for a school." Two years 
later they voted to raise three hundred dollars for a school, 
and four hundred days' works for the roads. In 1781 it was 
'' 15 pounds old way so-called, for to hire schooling this 
year." No mention is made of school districts, or school 
masters. The whole town was one district, and Master Per- 
kins was teacher of the town. Having received his own edu- 

* John Perkins, grand-son of " Master Perkins." 



85 

cation, which included reading and writing, nothing more, from 
Gen. SulUvan's father, an Irishman, Master Perkins taught 
the boys and girls of all the town to read and write, for the 
space of forty years. He went about keeping school, as some 
good men whom we remember went about cleaning our fath- 
ers' stately eight-day clocks. In the house of Daniel Sanborn, 
doubtless, wliere the town-meetings, as we have seen, were 
held ; in the meeting-house on the hill, when it was in a very 
rude unfinished state, and in many a dwelling throughout 
the town, Master Perkins taught and governed ; and his gov- 
erning was of a high order. Of fine personal appearance, 
and of very pronounced magisterial bearing, he walked with 
a conscious dignity, to the movement of his large ivory- 
headed cane, and, in the reverent and admiring eyes of all his 
little subjects, was a fit representative of George III. Al- 
though of a stern make, and accounted severe in disci- 
pline, there was a dash of humor in " Master Perkins." At 
a considerably later day than his, as some of us remember, it 
was customary in the summer schools of Sanbornton, for the 
girls to bring their sewing and knitting, and when young 
brains were tired with severer labors, in reading and spelling 
and Colburn's arithmetic, these finger-crafts were taken up 
under the direction of the " school-marm." One of those 
mothers of the earlier period, who was evidently in advance 
of her times, sent her little girl one day with " knitting 
work," to Master Perkins' school. It was a stocking of 
goodly size, and well along toward the point at which the 
heel should be begun for the formation of the foot. The child 
plied her busy fingers for a time, under the watchful and 
twinkling eye of the master, and then, holding the tiling in 
her tiny hand, went timidly up to him for instructions. V/ith 
utmost gravity he examined the work, and told her to nar- 
row it. In a short time she came again, when the same di- 
rection was repeated, and many times, and the upshot was, 
as Master Perkins used to tell the story with great glee, that 
" she narrered it and narreied it, till she narrered it all 
away." Thus ended that particular stocking, and thus ended 
all " knitting work " in Master Perkins' school. 



36 

His teaching and his useful hfe ended together in tlie year 
1804, and he was laid to his rest very near to what was the 
original Sanbornton square. He ought to have had a grave 
in the burying-ground on the hill, by the side of the first min- 
ister ; and the numerous scholars he had tauglit and governed, 
during that long period of forty years, ought to have erected 
a monument of granite over his remains. 

Now we come to a fact in the early history of tliis church 
and of Sanbornton, to wdiicli all we liave been saying bears a 
very close relation, and which we must call a very remarka- 
ble fact. It is, that whereas the building of tlie first meet- 
ing-house was not begun till the year 1775, and took twenty- 
five years to the finisliing, the first minister was settled four 
years before the frame of the meeting-house was raised. 
Therein was the wisdom of our fathers. They reckoned that 
a settled minister was better than a meeting-house, and they 
built their meeting-house as fast as they could pay for it ; no 
faster. Now, the order is reversed ; the meeting-house is the 
first thing, built with elegance and expensiveuess, whether 
paid for or not — most likely built with 1)orrowed money — 
and then a minister is sought, first and chiefl}^ to be a popular 
attraction, like a brilliant lecturer, or a travelling circus, to 
draw a multitude and pay off the debt. If any sinners are 
converted, that is all very w^ell, and it is, no doubt, very 
strange ; but it is not the end which the congregations of our 
day have in view when they choose a minister. 

The first recorded action looking to the support of gospel 
ordinances, was at a meeting of the Proprietors held in Exe- 
ter, July 13, 1767. It was then and there voted, that '' they 
wold raise a doler on each rite liabiel to pay taxes for to hier " 
a minister " this present year : " and we read in that old re- 
cord the familiar names of Josiah Sanborn, Capt. Joseph 
Hoyt, and Ebenezer Sanborn, as a committee appointed for 
the purpose. A similar vote seems to have been passed at 
Exeter from year to year, till 1771, when our fathers, having 
been incorporated as a town the year previous, moved in good 
earnest for the settlement of a minister. In this they were 
encouraged by a vote of the Proprietors, passed on the 29th 



37 

of July, " that f 10 be raised on each right liable to be taxed, 
to assist and help the inhabitants of the town in supporting 
a gospel minister, if they settle one among tliem." 

We have no record of the names of the men who preached 
here amid the giant forest-trees, and not improbal)ly under 
their dense shadow, when Sanbornton was only a plantation. 
One thing we do know, which is, that they would not l>e satis- 
fied with casual, nor with stated supplies. They must have a 
settled minister, though they had no meeting-house, and could 
not have one for a long time to come. Just ten days after 
that on which the lil3eral offer of the Proprietors was made, 
a special town-meeting was held, for the sole- purpose of con- 
sidering the proposition to settle a minister. 

I must ask you to consider well the manifold difficulties 
our fathers were in when they held that special town-meeting 
in the house of Daniel Sanborn, for the purpose of securing a 
settled minister. It is not much to say, that those brave 
Christian men were struggling with all the terrors of the 
wilderness, to found a home for themselves and their families, 
working very hard, living on the plainest food — bean por- 
ridge, and coarse bannocks, and potato Ijread entering largely 
into their cuisine ; clothing themselv^es in garments spun, and 
wove, and cut, and made up, in their own most humble cots. 
The country, small and feeble as it was, made up of thirteen 
colonies, of which New Hampshire w^as one, was already in- 
volved in that fearful death-struggle with the mightiest and 
the haughtiest military power on the earth. The odious stamp- 
act had been passed six years before. Benjamin Franklin 
had written home from London that the sun of liberty was 
set, and the torch of industry must be lighted in every cot- 
tage. The indignant and burning eloquence of Patrick 
Henry had raised the spirit of patriotism to blood-heat in tlie 
Assembly of Virginia ; blood had been shed in Boston in an 
affray between armed British soldiers and unarmed citizens ; 
ladies of fashion in all sections of the country, were carding, 
spinning, and weaving the fabrics for their own dresses, and 
mutton was forbidden to be eaten, lest the supply of wool 
should fail. 



38 

It was at such a time that our fathers, pressed with bur- 
dens and difficulties all but intoleral)le, and expecting still 
worse, met in special town-meeting, in the house near by, for 
the sole purpose of securing the settlement of a minister. 
What was the result ? They voted, those great-hearted 
Christian men of Sanbornton, " to give Mr. Joseph Woodman 
a call to settle in ye gospel ministry in this town." Mr. Jo- 
seph Woodman was a young man of fine talents and educa- 
tion, a graduate of Nassau Hall, and at that time twenty- 
three years of age. They meant to have him, and so they 
also voted, at the same meeting, to give him a " sallery " of 
two hundred dollars, of which one hundred and eighty dol- 
lars was to be in monej^ and twenty dollars in labor, at money 
price, for the first two years ; and afterward, one hundred and 
twenty dollars in money and eighty dollars in labor. This was 
not all. Twenty cords of good fire-wood, cut into cord-wood 
length, were to be hauled yearly to Mr. Woodman's door. 
What huge logs of curly rock-maple were rolled, without split- 
ting, into that gracious pile of twenty cords, some of us who 
are old enough to remember similar things, can believe. 
Still further, Mr. Woodman was to receive, '' if he settles in 
ye gospel ministry here, the valine of 100 dollars in labor 
and stuff, for to build him a house, to be paid, so much as 
will set him up a house frame, next spring, and the remainder 
in boards, shingle, and clapboards, in ye fall of ye year fol- 
lowing." Two months later, having, no doubt, conferred freely 
with Mr. Woodman in the meantime, and found out the state 
of his health, and how much he was willing to undertake, the 
town very kindly voted, that '' Mr. Woodman, if he settles in 
ye gospel ministry in this town, shall have liberty to preach 
old sermons when his health will not admit of his making 
new ones ; " also, that he " shall have liberty to be absent 
three Sabbaths in a year, yearly, to visit his friends." In ad- 
dition to all the rest, Mr. Woodman, as the first settled min- 
ister, received of the town the present of a farm, not tliat 
which we all know as the Woodman farm, but another which 
he exchanged for that with Esquire Harper, a business trans- 
action in which the people of his congregation — that is to say, 



39 

all the town — were pleased to see that their minister was not 
entirely lacking in worldly wisdom. 

The town, at a very early period in its history, set apart for- 
ever, for the support of the gospel ministry, a tract of land 
called the parsonage, the income of which seems to have been 
given to Mr. Woodman. For at a town-meeting held May 
26, 1795, William Harper, Esq., liaving been chosen agent at 
a previous meeting, " to lay a copy of the records before our 
attorney and take his advice in writing," reported that accord- 
ing to Mr. Bradbury's opinion, " tlie income of the parsonage 
belongs to Mr. Woodman." 

The people, no doubt, knew Mr. Woodman's mind in re- 
lation to the business in hand, well enough to be sure they 
were not acting precipitately in fixing the day for his or- 
dination, and making a list of the churches to be invited, 
before he had signified his acceptance of the call. This was 
done by the same town-meeting which voted the call, and the 
" sallery," and the '^ twenty cord of good fire-wood." '' Wed- 
nesday, the thirteenth of November next for the day of Mr. 
Woodman's ordination," in case he should accept the call, was 
the action recorded ; also '' to send to ye churches of Can- 
terbury, Concord, Pembroke, Epping, ye first in Rowley, ye 
second, third, and fourth in Newbury, to assist in ye ordination." 

All this is from the records of the town, and shows the ac- 
tion of the town. The church had not yet been organized. 
At the time appointed, one hundred years ago to-day, the or- 
dination of Mr. Joseph Woodman took place in the house of 
Daniel Sanborn. 

We suppose that the church was first organized, and that 
he was installed as the pastor, at the same time and place. 
This, our centennial service, is, therefore, to commemorate the 
formation of the church and the settlement of its first pastor. 
There are some here present who remember, that just sixty- 
five years ago to-day the second pastor of the church was 
ordained in the meeting-house on the hill. 

Of that solemn service of ordination one hundred years 
ago, no record remains to us. The first entry in tlie first 
Book of Church Records, is the covenant of the church, in 



40 

the hand-writing of Mr. Woodman, signed by seven men, 
whose names are as follows : James Gates, Nathaniel Tilton, 
Daniel Sanborn, Benjamin Darling, Josiah Sanborn, Aaron 
Sanborn, Abijah Sanborn. 

Directly after these names is a brief form of admission, 
and on the two pages following, the Confession of Faith. 

Tiie record of what seems to have been the first regular 
church-meeting follows immediately after the Confession of 
Faith, and is dated, " Jan'y ye 2nd, 1772." The first 
business taken in hand is thus recorded : " This day, the 
church being met, agreeable to previous warning, after Sol- 
emn prayer to the great Head of the Church, for direction 
and acceptance, unanimously voted the above written as a 
Standing Confession of Faith in this Church." This confes- 
sion is remarkably full and clear, and would seem to show 
that the original members and their pastor, Mr. Woodman, 
were well established on the great fundamental doctrines of 
Christianity. Other matters attended to at the same meet- 
ing are entered thus : 

" 2. Yoted, that Benjamin Darling be chosen first deacon. 

3. Yoted, that Nathaniel Tilton be chosen the second 
deacon. 

4. Yoted, that the Lord's Supper be administered upon 
the second Lord's Day in each month, omitting the months of 
Dec'r, Jan'y, Feb'y and March. 

5. Yoted, To receive Lucy, Mary, and Anna Sanborn by 
letter of dismission and recommendation from the church of 
Christ in Northampton." 

More than a year seems to have passed before another reg- 
ular church-meeting was held. This was on the fourth of 
March, 1773. The business at this meeting was of very grave 
importance. You are aware that, in the early period of the his- 
tory of New England, there was, in the churches generally, 
what was called the half-way covenant ; the meaning of which 
was, that any members of the congregation, not being " in full 
communion with the church," as it was expressed, were yet per- 
mitted and urged to " recognize the covenant," (which meant 
no more than that they acknowledged that they ought to be 



41 

Christians,) and to bring their children for baptism. Thus 
we find the record, "Jacob Smith, Jr., and his wife, recog- 
nized tlieir baptismal covenant," and a little onward, " Bap- 
tized a child of Jacob Smith, Jr., by the name of Oliver." A 
year or two later another child of Jacob Smith, Jr., was bap- 
tized by the name of " Molly," but neither father nor mother 
was at any time a member of the church. 

The working of so unscriptural a usage as the half-way cov- 
enant was most disastrous here as elsewhere, as the record of 
the proceedings at this second regular church-meeting shows. 
" After prayer to ye great head of ye church for direction, 
They, considering the great remissness which is at this day so 
common in regard to those who recognize their cov't, agreed : 

1. That they esteemed Immorality a Sufficient bar to per- 
sons being admitted to Baptism for themselves or children. 

2. That they would regard those who were Baptized in In- 
fancy and those who have recognized their baptismal covenant, 
as members of the visible Church, or persons visibly in cove- 
nant, and as Such, Subject to the watch and discipline of the 
church and would treat them as such. 

3. That those who have recognized the covenant in other 
places be required to get a dismission or certificate of their 
having recognized the covenant in those places, and of their 
regular Standing there, in order to their having their children 
baptized in this church. 

4. That , on account of Some Immorality alledged 

against him be debarred from having his child baptized, until 
he shall make satisfaction to the church." 

At what time and in what way this usage was discontinued 
does not appear. The latest record of such a proceeding is 
as follows : " Sept. 10, 1780. William Taylor and wife re- 
newed covenant, and had their child baptized by the name of 
" Chase." 

The records show that church discipline was maintained, 

and that in March, 1794, the pastor and Deacon Tilton were 

appointed " a committee to make a prudent enquiry with respect 

to their performance of family worship by those who arc mem- 

6 



42 

bers ill full communion, and also those who have recognized 
their covenant in this church." 

The ministry of Mr. Woodman, beginning on the 13th of 
November, 1771, one hundred years ago to-day, was termin- 
ated by his dismission Nov. 13, 1806, the same day on which 
his successor was ordained. He was a man of commanding 
personal appearance and dignified bearing, and for talent" and 
education took rank with the foremost ministers of New 
Hampshire. He was of medium height, of a broad, com- 
pact frame, with large head well set on ample shoulders, and 
decidedly marked features. I have heard it said, by men 
who knew him, and who have passed away, that he had nat- 
ural endowments which would have fitted him admirably for 
the courts of law or the halls of legislation, if such had been 
his choice. The estimation in which he was held by the 
town may be gathered from the fact that, at"a special meeting 
held January 17, 1775, it was '- voted that the Rev. Joseph 
Woodman be a deputy for this town to join the deputies of 
the other towns in this province, at a meeting to be held at 
Exeter on the 25th day of this instant, to choose delegates 
for the Continental Congress, and to choose a committee to 
proportion each town's part of ye charge of sending delegates 
June 3, 1802." 

That he was held in high respect beyond the limits of his 
own town it is evident, for we find that on the third day of 
June, 1802, he preached to the Governor of the State and his 
Council, with the Senate and House of Representatives, in 
Concord, then a pleasant village, and the discourse was pub- 
lished. 

It was in the appointed duties of the Christian ministry, 
however, that he was chiefly occupied during the thirty-five 
years of his pastorate, preaching the gospel, visiting the sick, 
and from house to house, uniting the young in the bonds of 
matrimony, baptizing the children, and officiating at the bur- 
ial of the dead. 

In less than a year from the day on which Mr. Woodman 
was dismissed, God called him to his rcAvard, at the compara- 
tively early age of fifty-nine, and his frame, wasted by suf- 



43 

fering, was laid by that of Esther, the much loved wife, 
whose death four years earlier had filled him with deepest 
grief. Yery touching and beautiful is the allusion made to 
the afflictions, whose effect had been to unfit him, in a great 
measure, for his work, in a letter addressed to the town about 
a year before his dismission. It begins thus : 

" Friends and Brethren : — An all-wise, holy, and sovereign 
God, in whose hands our times are, was pleased, more than 
two years since, to visit me with the epidemic sickness which 
that season prevailed among us. This was succeeded by 
bilious and rheumatic complaints, from which I am not fully 
recovered, but still remain in an infirm and debilitated state, 
so that I am not able at present to attend to all tlie duties of 
the ministerial office at all seasons. * * * * And especially 
does this, together with the sore bereavement with which God 
was pleased, just before, to visit myself and family, afford me 
in particular abundant cause for deep humiliation and repent- 
ance, and humble enquiry wherefore He contondeth with me. 
And while they give me a claim to your candour, your sympa- 
thy, and compassion, I earnestly request the prayers of all 
who have an interest at the throne of grace, that God would 
sanctify those heavy and long-continued afflictions, support 
me under them, and grant an happy issue of them in his own 
time." 

The happy issue came : God's time was not long delayed, 
and he passed, on the 28th day of September, 1807, from un- 
der the dark cloud which cast so distressing a shadow over 
his last days, into the world of which Christ is the everlast- 
ing light. 

His retirement from the ministerial office in order that a 
younger man might take his place, when he became convinced 
of his inability any longer to perform its duties, was a grace- 
ful and generous act, which could hardly have lailed to com- 
mend him to the admiration and sympathy of the whole com- 
munity. He sent to tliat community (for he looked upon 
them all as, in a sense, his flock) a long letter, and worthy to 



44 

be the last of all his labors of love among them, as we may 
suppose it was. A copy lies before me, well preserved. He 
addresses it " To the Inhabitants of Sandboriiton, more espec- 
ially to the Congregational Church and Society," and then 
proceeds : 

" Men and Brethren : — In the wise, righteous, and sovereign 
providence of God, my health has been greatly impaired since 
the severe sickness with which He has been pleased to visit 
me ; and for nine months past I have been unable to supply 
the desk. There appears but little prospect of my being able 
to discharge the duties of the ministry among you for the 
future." After alluding to an unsuccessful effort which had 
been made to settle the contract between him and the town, 
he goes on to say : " Your present situation is alarming, 
affecting, and, to me, very distressing — destitute of the stated 
administration of God's word and ordinances — the meeting- 
house unopened — the desk unoccupied on the Holy Sabbath." 

How ready and anxious he was to do anything in his power 
to bring so sad a state of things to an end, is seen in what 
comes immediately after: "Apprehensive of the evils which will 
be the probable consequences of continuing in such a state, 
and desirous to do all in my power to prevent them and to 
promote the peace and prosperity of the Church and Society 
to which I have so long ministered, I have been induced to 
give up that which I liave ever considered as entitling me to 
support in case of sickness, or of age. I therefore propose to 
give up the contract with the town on the following condi- 
tions, viz : that my poll and estate be exempted from taxes dur- 
ing my life." 

He then addresses himself io the church and congregation, 
whom he calls " Friends and Brethren," reminds them, in 
tender and touching words, of his lengthened ministry among 
them, refers to the severe afflictions by which a wise and sover- 
eign God has brought his labors to a close, and urges them, in 
most earnest terms, to look for another pastor without delay, 
giving them excellent counsel how to proceed. He enjoins 



45 

upon them in particular " the due observation and snnctifica- 
tion of the Holy Sabbath," warning them of the sad results 
of Sabbath desecration, and recommending to the heads of fam- 
ilies to use their authority and influence in the matter, with all 
under their care. He brings his letter to a close as follows : 

" And now, brethren,! commend you to God and to the word 
of his grace. May he preserve you from the evils to which 
you are exposed, pour out His Spirit and unite your hearts 
in Christian truth, love, and holiness, build up His cause and 
interest among us, smile upon and succeed your exertions to 
obtain an able and faithful minister of the New Testament, 
who may be a rich blessing to you and your children. 

Fhially, brethren, be perfect, be of one mind, live in peace, 
and the God of peace shall be with you. 

(Signed,) JOSEPH WOODMAN. 

Sandbornton, April 22nd, 1806." 

On the 22d day of April, 1806, a special town-meeting was 
assembled in the meeting-house on the hill, and Deacon Samuel 
Lane, Dr. Samuel Gerrish, and Major Jeremiah Tilton, a com- 
mittee appointed for the purpose, waited on Mr. Woodman, 
in the house still standing, and shaded by the fine old elms 
which to some of us seem no larger than when we were little 
children, and returned with that noble epistle in their hands. 
If the reading of it did not touch the hearts and moisten the 
eyes of the strong men in that special town-meeting, then we 
have judged wrong as to their character. That it had the 
effect which Mr. Woodman so earnestly desired, is very cer- 
tain ; for the meeting accepted unanimously its terms, and 
immediately voted to raise two hundred dollars for supplying 
the desk of the Congregational Society the present year, and 
chose Jeremiah Sanborn, Dr. Samuel Gerrish, and Brad- 
street Moody, as a Committee of Supply. 

That the letter of Mr. Woodman made a happy impression 
seems evident from the fact that it was printed in elegant 
style for that time, and distributed through the town. 



46 

The last record in the Church Book relating to Mr. Wood- 
man, is of a very gratifying character, as follows : 

At a church-meeting Oct. 14, 1818, " Voted, that brother 
Ebenezer Sanborn, Jr., and Moses Emery, be a committee to 
obtain subscriptions for the purpose of purchasing grave- 
stones for the late Rev'd Joseph Woodman, former Pastor of 
this Church." 

No time was lost in any delay to seek a new pastor, as was 
to have been expected of a congregation that had settled 
their first four years before the frame of their meeting-house 
was raised. How many ministers and who, supplied the pul- 
pit as candidates, we do not know. It is certain that a Mr. 
Daniel Staniford preached, and made so good an impression 
that his name was given to the eldest child of Benjamin P. 
Sanborn, born some time after. 

The people had heard a favorable account of a young man 
in Massachusetts, who had graduated at Cambridge the year 
before, and had spent about three months in the study of the- 
ology with the Pev. Jonatlian French, at Andover ; that ar- 
rangement being all there was at that time of the Andover 
Theological Seminary. His name was Abraham Bod well. 
The town sent " Squire Emery " all the way on horse-back to 
Andover, seventy miles, to invite Mr. Bodwell to come to 
Sanbornton and preach as a candidate. " Squire Emery " 
made so favorable an impresssion upon him that he assented, 
notwithstanding the fact that overtures, looking to a settle- 
ment, had been made to him from Haverhill and Newbury. 
It must have been near the beginning of June in the year 
1806, when he came. The forests were in all their leafy 
beauty, the birds were singing among the branches, and the 
hills and mountains around and far away must have appeared 
exceeding grand in comparison with the tamer landscape of 
eastern Massachusetts. He brought with him his licensure 
to preach, as follows : 

" Stoneham, April 30th, 1806. 

This may certify that Mr. Abraham Bodwell, A. B., of 
Methuen, offered himself to the Westford Association to be 



47 

examined and approbated as a Candidate for the work of the 
Gospel Ministry. And the Association having carefully at- 
tended to his moral character, his Church standing, his 
knowledge of theology, and the various requisite qualifica- 
tions ; do cordially approbate him as a Candidate, and unani- 
mously recommend him as a person well qualified to preach 
the Gospel, wherever he may be called in divine providence 
to labor. 

PAUL LITCHFIELD, Moderator, 
Attest, FREEGRACE RAYNOLDS, Scribe. 

The time of probation was about three months, and the 
number of sermons preached was twenty-three. On Sunday, 
August 2-lth, two very close and pungent sermons were 
preached from the text, '' Israel doth not know ; my people 
doth not consider." On Friday of the same week a meeting 
of the church was held, the first business of which was the 
appointment of a committee to confer with Mr. Woodman, 
and learn whether he would prefer to continue his relation 
as Senior Pastor, or to be dismissed. The committee waited 
on him, and brought back for answer that he requested dis- 
mission. The church acceded to his wish, then voted, " To 
give ]Mr. Abraham Bodwell a call to settle here as Pastor of 
said Church. Also : 

That Josiah Emery present this vote to the selectmen of 
this town, and request them to call a meeting of the quali- 
fied voters (in ministerial matters) to see if they will join 
this Church in settling Mr. Bodwell as Pastor of this Church 
and Congregation, as soon as they shall think it convenient." 

The town-meeting was held on Tuesday, loth of September, 
and a vote was passed " to give Mr. Bodwell a call to settle 
in the Gospel ministry in this town." A committee of five — 
Dea. Samuel Lane, Nathan Taylor, Esq., Dr. Samuel Gcrrish, 
Jeremiah Sanborn, and Joshua Lane — were chosen to inform 
Mr. Bodwell of the town's vote, and treat with him on terms 
of settlement. Two weeks later, on Wednesday, September 
30th, the town met again, when the committee of five re- 
ported the following contract : " That the town of Sanborn- 



48 

ton pay Abraham Bodwell 8^50, annually, for preaching and 
attending to all the duties incumbent on a settled minister of 
the Gospel in said town, until two-thirds of that part of the 
town generally denominated Congregationalists, shall wish to 
discontinue the salary, and it shall be discontinued in one 
year after a regular notification, in writing, from the town to 
said Bodwell, purporting such wish; and the said Abraham 
Bodwell contracts to attend to all the duties before mentioned, 
until he shall give the same regular notice to the Selectmen or 
clerk of said town, at the expiration of which time he shall 
be released from this contract." 

This report was accepted by a vote of the town, and the 
same committee was re-appointed " to wait on Mr. Bodwell, 
inform him of the vote of this meeting, and likewise to make 
arrangements for the ordination." What the arrangements 
were we only know in part. Invitations were sent to the 
churches in Canterbury, Concord, Gilmanton, Methuen, Ha- 
verhill, and Newbury. The day fixed was the thirteenth of 
November, the thirty-fifth anniversary of the settlement of 
the first pastor, and, as we suppose, of the organization of the 
churcli. It was a high day in Sanbornton, that thirteenth of 
November, sixty-five years ago to-day. 

A goodly number of pastors and delegates were present, in- 
cluding the Bev. Messrs. Smith, of Gilmanton, Patrick, of 
Canterbury, McFarland, of Concord, and Perley of Methuen. 
The ample house of Dr. Benaiah Sanborn, in which the pas- 
tor elect had his home, was the scene of large and most gen- 
erous hospitalities. Most, if not all, the ministers from 
abroad were assembled there, and how they looked and what 
some of them said and did, is well remembered still by sur- 
viving members of the family. At the appointed hour, all 
wended their way to the meeting-house on the hill. An or- 
dination in tliose days, like a grand military review, was an 
attraction to all the towns around. The beautiful green slope 
in front of the meeting-house was covered with peddlers' wa- 
gons, and tents. By far the larger part of the multitude as- 
sembled cared nothing for religious service, and yet the house 
was so crammed that it was thought necessary to shore up the 



49 

galleries, lest they should fall. So great was the num- 
ber of those who wished to get in but could not, that the 
appearance is described by one still living as having been like 
that of bees hanging from a hive on a hot summer day. The 
man who says this was a lad thirteen years old at the time, 
and after trying in vain to get into tlie meeting-house, he went 
to see a show which was going on at the same time in the 
large square house of Mr. Harper, which large square house 
some of us remember to have seen burn down, early on a cloudy 
summer evening, a good while ago. Tbe house now occupied 
by Mrs. Wadleigh is on the same site. In that great square 
house there was also, on that day, a counter, behind which 
stood a grandson of Master Perkins, one of the fine young 
men of the congregation, then twenty-two years of age, and 
who stands erect among us to-day, the oldest member of the 
church and the oldest man in the town, who has lived eighty- 
seven years from his birth, in Sanbornton — a longer time, as 
he believes, than any other man has lived in the town, 
though many have died here at a greater age. 

And what did he do behind that counter on that ordina- 
tion day ? Measured out rum to saints and sinners ! It was 
the custom then. The godly ministers assembled would 
hardly have thought tliey could properly install the young 
pastor without the cheering influence of ardent spirits. And 
years afterward, wlien tlie young pastor had become a father, 
his son, then a little boy, remembers pleasant days on which 
he was permitted to go in the chaise with him as he rode 
over the parish, and how, at each successive liouse where he 
called, the good people, anxious to show their great respect 
and love for their minister, offered him spirits, and would 
have been offended if he had refused ; and how cautiously he 
only sipped, lest such oft-repeated kindness should prove 
more than he could bear. 

The ordination sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Mc- 
Farland, of Concord, from tlie words, '' The grace of God 
that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men." Titus, 
ii., 11. 

7 



50 

This is all we know of the public services of that day. 
When the early sunset came the meeting-house was empty, 
the peddlers' carts and tents and show-men all were gone, 
the throng was dispersed, and the stillness of night settled 
down upon this young village and this glorious landscape. 

The Rev. Joseph Woodman, first pastor of the church, had 
been dismissed, and Mr. Abraham Bodwell, whose labors 
were to extend over the long period of forty-six years, had 
been settled in his room. 

Sanborn ton was at that time a place of considerable enter- 
prise, and a center of trade to a circle of towns around. On 
pleasant summer mornings people were seen on their way 
to the stores from distances of ten and twelve miles, with 
butter and cheese and fresh-laid eggs, to barter for tea and 
coffee and sugar and calico and snuff. 

The meeting-house was well filled on the Sabbath with a 
congregation of sober, earnest, and intelligent men and wo- 
men, coming from all parts of tlie town, and none were more 
constant than those who drove five miles up and down these 
invigorating hills. How full those great square pews used to 
be, morning and afternoon, summer and winter! Many of 
us remember what a merry sight it was to us children, at a 
more recent period when, on bright cold winter days, the con- 
gregation poured out from that old meeting-house, in which 
there had been no fire save what our mothers and grandmoth- 
ers brouglit in their little foot-stoves, and packed themselves 
by families in their ample sleighs, single and double, and went 
down the hill to the music of their many bells, in long pro- 
cession, at a rate of speed which made it plain that the horses 
were as glad as the children who had sat shivering on the 
cold hard seats, that meeting was done. 

If the two sermons preached by my father on the last Sab- 
bath of his probation, and to which I have already referred, 
are a sample, as no doubt they are, of what came after, then 
his ministry was faithful and earnest in no common degree. 
He presented habitually, as though he believed them with all 
his heart, the great fundamental doctrines, ruin, redemption, 
and regeneration. 



51 

I can remember, when a child, being so moved by the ear- 
nestness and solemnity of his appeals to the impenitent, as I 
sat in the pew at the right hand of the pulpit, that I strug- 
gled hard to conceal my emotions, fearing that all around 
would see, and was glad when Monday came, that I might go 
to school and to play and forget. That lie was deeply anxious 
for the salvation of his people, and that his anxiety grew un- 
til it was almost more than he could bear, is a fact of peculiar 
interest to us. I well remember listening, when very young, to 
a conversation between my father and a very godly minister, 
who was a visitor at the house, but whose name is forgotten, 
on the great revival which wrought such a wonderful change 
in this town in the year 1816. The thing which made the 
deepest impression upon me was the statement, by my father, 
that his anxiety for the salvation of his people became so in- 
tense that it was agonizing, insomuch that it seemed to him at 
last that lie could not live unless the Spirit of God was poured 
out upon the congregation. 

And thus, without any revival measures, or any special 
means, through the faithful preaching of. the word by the or- 
dained pastor, and in answer to his earnest prayers, the Spirit 
was poured upon them from on high, and the whole town was 
shaken. Quietly and powerfully the work went on until more 
than a hundred were hopefully converted to Christ, many of 
whom were fathers and mothers, among the most respectable 
and influential members of the congregation. 

From July to the end of the year 1816, the records of the 
church are of exceeding interest. On the fourteenth of July 
ten fathers and mothers were admitted to the church on pro- 
fession of their faith, and five of them were baptized. Two 
weeks later sixteen children of these parents were baptized. 
On the eleventh of August fourteen were admitted on profes- 
sion, mostly heads of families, and on the eighth of September 
forty-one persons were received, and seventeen were baptized, of 
whom thirteen were children. Thus onward to the end of 
the year, twelve being admitted on the tenth of November, 
the last communion Sabbath of the year. 



52 

The full results of that outpouring of the Spirit of God will 
not be known till the day of judgment. We may confidently 
say that its blessed effects are felt to the present time, not 
only in this church and congregation, but by the whole town. 
There were other seasons of special religious interest during 
the forty-six years of my father's ministry, but none compar- 
able to the great awakening of 1816. The entire number 
received by him to the fellowship of tlie church in the forty- 
six years of his ministry, was three hundred and seven, and 
the number of baptisms, four hundred and eighty-four, mostly 
children. I think you will sustain me in the assertion that 
the character of my father's preaching was eminently adapted 
to promote sound conversion It was not superficial nor sen- 
sational, but Biblical, discriminating, and searching ; not to 
the speculative understanding, the proud and self-sufficient 
reason, but to the conscience and the heart. The fruits of 
this have beeu manifest, and are manifest to-day, in the sound- 
ness in the faith of the church, its purity of discipline, and 
its steadfastness in all good ways. During the entire century 
of its existence, indeed, this church has been little troubled 
with crotchets and isms, and has manifested the soundness 
and vigor of its spiritual life in the rapidity of its recovery 
from any mild attacks of religious weakness or derangement. 
It had at one time an attack, very mild indeed, of perfection- 
ism, called in our day the ^' higher Christian life," (it is all 
the same thing) ; but the body of the Church was too sound 
and healthy to be affected by it. Hardly did it get through 
the skin ; and it was very severely let alone. Neither were 
blisters applied nor purgatives administered, but the body was 
nourished up in sound doctrine, as aforetime, and in a won- 
derfully short time almost every trace of the malady dis- 
appeared. 

I think you will not only bear with me, but add your testi- 
mony to the fact, when I say, that I have never known a man 
who equaled my father in the faculty of holding his tongue. 
How he combined the utmost meekness of spirit and for- 
bearance of demeanor with a declared decision and firmness 
of principle, like the great granite mountains round about us, 



53 

was to me a mystery, and it is a mystery still. I am quite 
sure that this whole town of Sanbornton would rise up to-day 
and bear emphatic witness, that this singular combination 
of gentleness with decisioii, was largely the secret of his 
influence and usefulness. 

The first Sunday school was formed in the year 1819. One 
half of the brief intermission of one hour was devoted to it, 
and the chief exercise was the repeating of portions of Scrip- 
ture, and the hymns of Dr. Watts. I am by no means sure 
that the present methods are, on the whole, any improvement 
upon that. Of one tiling, at least, I am sure, and it is, thatl 
would not exchange the benefits derived from being compelled 
by my most excellent mother, sorely against my will, to com- 
mit to memory many portions of the Word of God, and not a 
few of Watts' unequaled hymns, to repeat to my teacher on the 
Sabbath, for any advantages likely to flow from many of what 
are pronounced the marvellous improvements of our time. 

It might have been expected that such a church as this, 
and such a community as the people of Sanbornton, would 
enter with decision and earnestness into the great temperance 
reformation which brought such unspeakable blessings to our 
whole nation nearly half a century ago. That they did so, 
some of us are old enough to remember. 

You will permit me to refer to two particular things con- 
nected with the movement in this town. As to tlie first, I 
quote from the very interesting discourse preached by your 
present pastor at the funeral of my beloved mother : 

" Up to the time of the great temperance reformation in the 
day of Jonathan Kittredge and Lyman Beecher, it was cus- 
tomary to furnish liquors at all social entertainments, and all 
the guests partook, ladies as well as gentlemen. The custom 
was nowhere more fixed than in the very best society in San- 
bornton. To inaugurate a change required no small degree 
of courage. The pastor and his wife conferred earnestly to- 
gether, and came to the united and firm conclusion that it 
was their duty, however painful (and it was very painful), to 
set the example. The opportunity soon came. A large 



54 

party was at the house, including the leading families in the 
congregation. In every similar instance previously, spirits 
had been brought in at a set time, and had been regarded as 
an indispensable part of the entertainment. In the present 
instance the set time came, and it was evident that no change 
in the good o]d custom was expected. But they liad 
made their decision fully, finally, and in the sight of God, and 
there was no wavering. It is well remembered how hearty 
and earnest was the concurrence of Mrs. Bodwell with her 
husband, and how profound was the satisfaction she expressed 
in doing what seemed to be riglit, even at the risk of giving 
offence to their best friends. It is believed that this was the 
first instance of the kind in the society or in the town. How 
readily the example was followed, and how soon the custom 
was banished forever from the best families in Sanborntou, is 
well known to you all." 

The other incident is the fact, recently mentioned to me by 
your senior deacon, that the principles of that great reforma- 
tion took so strong a hold on the conscience of some of the 
men who were pillars in this church, tliat they found no rest 
until they had abandoned the use of tobacco as well as ardent 
spirits, and that cost them much the severer struggle of the 
two. Such men would go to prison and to death for Jesus 
Christ, and this church has never been without sucli. 

In connection with the educational interests of this com- 
munity, a very important movement was the incorporation of 
twelve men. by the legislature of 1825 as the '• Trustees of 
Woodman Sanborntou Academy." The members of this 
church were foremost in the movement, foremost in the rais- 
ing of funds, and foremost in all measures to sustain the 
school and to give it a liigh character. 

The benefits it conferred upon the town were incalculable. 
Some of us who have come from our distant homes back to 
dear old Sanborntou, our earliest home, to-day, are here to 
bear witness on this point. For myself, I owe it to Wood- 
man Sanborntou Academy that it was a possible thing for me 
to secure a liberal education and become a preacher of the 



55 

gospel. Tliat it was possible even so, furnishes proof that 
your pastor, my father, was at once a most unworldly man, 
and an excellent financier ; for I have heard him say that the 
full amount of his salary, four hundred and fifty dollars, was 
paid to him only a single year ; and how it dwindled, year by 
year, I need not say : and yet, with no other source of in- 
come, he paid off seven hundred dollars of debt after he came 
to Sanbornton, and bought his land and built his house, and 
during all the earlier period of his ministry exercised a gen- 
erous hospitality toward the members of his own congrega- 
tion, and toward all wayfaring brother ministers and their 
families. And here I am minded to tell you a fact, which 
is, that in New England the ministers of the gospel have 
always been, and are to-day, as a class, of all men the most 
unworldly, the most hospitable, and the best financiers. If 
you will search this you shall find it so. 

I must say something of the man whose name the academy 
bore. He was the youngest child but one of your first pastor, 
and was born March 25th, 1790. My father says of him, in 
his semi-centennial discourse : " He was a Boston merchant, 
upright and successful in business, and greatly honored and 
beloved in the religious community as a man of warm heart, 
large Christian enterprise, and beautiful devotion in the ser- 
vice of Jesus, his Divine Master. He was a Christian indeed, 
eminent for piety and active exertions in the cause of God." 
Mr. Woodman liad much to do with the founding of the acad- 
emy which bore his name, and in securing to it a high Chris- 
tian character. Doubtless, had his valuable life been pro- 
longed, he would have done much more to build up the insti- 
tution and make it permanent. He was also one of the 
founders and original members of the Union Church, in Bos- 
ton, of which Dr. Nehemiah Adams has been so long the hon- 
ored pastor, and which was established especially for the 
maintenance of sound doctrine, at a time when good men 
were alarmed because of the prevalence of religious error. 
Mr. Woodman died in the summer of 1826, after a very short 
and severe sickness, and went to his everlasting reward, leav- 
ing many to mourn over the heavy loss to the church of God. 



56 

There is another word to be said in regard to the meeting- 
house on the hill. At a special town-meeting, convened on 
petition, May 12, 1834, it was decided to adhere to the action 
taken at the previous March meeting, namely : " to relinquish 
their right in the town meeting-house." One week later, on 
the 19th of May that is, men were on the ground to take it 
down ; and on the 24th day of September in the same year, 
you were assembled in this place to engage in the service of 
dedication, when a sermon was preached by my father from 
the text, " And the house which I build is great, for great 
is our God above all gods." 2 Chron., ii., 5. In it he 
says : "It is worthy of remark, that there never has been any 
controversy between different denominations, respecting the 
house first erected, nor any other house of worship in the 
town. Though there liave been different denominations for 
more than forty years, yet, through the kind providence of 
God, the house first erected was occupied by the Congrega- 
tional Church and Society until last May, when it was taken 
down for the purpose of building this new house. The tak- 
ing down of the old house commenced on the nineteenth of 
May last, the frame of which composes a great part of the 
frame of this hous.e. In accomplishing this enterprise no ac- 
cident has occurred, no one of the workmen has been injured 
so as to be detained from his work a single moment. And 
now we have to acknowledge the good hand of our God upon 
us : our eyes behold what we desired ; the house is finished, 
and we are assembled for the solemn purpose of dedicating it 
to the worship of the one living and true God, Father, Son, 
and Holy Ghost." 

The reference made to the kindly relations which had always 
existed between the different religious denominations reminds 
me to speak of the beautiful friendship which bound my father 
and " Elder Crockett" together for so many years. It was a 
friendship based on a mutual and high respect, and a warm 
affection. In their frequent intercourse they dwelt less on the 
things in which they differed, so comparatively unimportant, 
and more on the grander matters in which they were agreed ; 
and thus they journeyed onward, in a pleasant and mutually 



57 

helpful fellowship, toward that happier country where all mists 
are dispelled from their vision, and the Lamb of God is their 
Light. 

This house stands on the same granite underpinning which 
supported the other ; and so we are on the same material 
foundations on which the fathers stood, and prayed, and wor- 
shipped long ago, and for many years : singhig here to-day 
the same hymns which they sung, and firmly established on 
the same everlasting spiritual doctrines, and on the same 
Rock of Ages — Jesus Christ. In the year 1856, during the 
ministry of Mr. Boutwell, a new and more elegant pulpit was 
introduced, which is still here unchanged, and during the past 
season you have made extensive repairs, remodeled the singer's 
gallery, bringing it down from its former elevation, and 
replaced the small and very imperfect glass, which was trans- 
ferred from the old meeting house, with these ampler sashes 
through which the light shines upon us to-day. 

On my return from England, in the autumn of 1850, after 
an absence of fourteen years, I found my father showing signs 
of the infirmities which come with advanced age. In the 
autumn of the next year, after much anxious thought, and at 
the cost of a severe struggle with his feelings, he rose in a 
meeting of the church and asked to be dismissed from the 
charge which he had sustained for the period of forty-five 
years. The church was surprised and troubled, and sat in 
silence. They had never been without a pastor for a single 
day, and they were afraid ; and they loved their aged pastor, 
whose life had been spent in their service. At length one of 
the fathers rose and said, " We are not ready ; the time has 
not come ; we are not prepared to take this step." Again 
they sat in silence : then voted unanimously not to accede 
to the request. The minister acquiesced for the time, inti- 
mating that the request would be renewed, and leaving them 
at full liberty to act in the matter whenever they felt ready. 
They saw plainly that the thing must come, and with a wise 
and wholesome dread of giving up one pastor until they had 
found another to take his place, they made inquiry, and con- 
ferred with their minister and among themselves. You know 
8 



58 

the result. The Rev. James Boutwell, of Brentwood, was 
called, and on the 24th of June, 1852, was installed by the 
same council which dissolved the relation that had united 
pastor and people in a most unusual harmony and love for 
almost forty-six years. 

You remember with what a beautiful grace your old minister 
came down from the pulpit to the pew, and became thenceforth 
an attentive and most respectful hearer of the new pastor, and 
a faithful teacher in the Sunday School ; doing all in his power 
to hold up the hands of his minister ; preaching for him when- 
ever his doing so wa^ requested as a favor, until, because of 
great infirmities, the physician positively forbade his preaching 
any more. How his life-long and beautiful meekness still 
wrapped him about, as a garment, you remember ; and how 
all the town, till the last, delighted to speak his name with 
reverent and loving benedictions, calling him " Father Bod- 
well, the peacemaker." 

Fifteen years ago to-day, which was the fiftieth anniversary 
of his settlement, he preached in this house, by special request, 
a semi-centennial discourse, which was published in the sum- 
mer after his death, with his own few words of farewell, to 
which he put his name just twelve days before he breathed 
his last. 

His last illness was brief, only a single week. He knew 
that he was passing away, and was steadfast in his reliance on 
Christ, filled with peace. He was wont to say that he had 
learned his theology as a system, from the study of the West- 
minster Assembly's Shorter Catechism ; and to those grand 
cardinal truths which that symbol so finely embodies, and 
which, as you know, he so earnestly preached during the whole 
course of his ministry, he expressed to me his continued and 
strong attachment during that last short illness. On the 24th 
day of March, 1863, not long before the setting of the sun, and 
when his eighty-sixth year was nearly completed, he fell 
asleep ; and two days after we laid him to his rest, very near the 
spot where the Rev. Joseph Woodman, his predecessor, was 
laid fifty-six years before, and in the lot where now are lying 
three of his daughters, and the much-loved wife of his youth, 
the mother of us all. 



59 

The ministry of Mr. Boutwell extended over a period of 
thirteen years, commencing in 1852, and terminating, by his 
death, in 1865. The sermon at his installation was preached 
by his intimate friend, the Rev. Erasmus D. Eldredge, of Salis- 
bury. The other principal parts were by the Rev. Messrs. 
Leach, Savage, Curtice, and Dr. Young. 

Mr. Boutwell was a graduate of Dartmouth College, of the 
class of 1836, and of the class of 1840 in Andover Theological 
Seminary. He was a man of great decision of character, 
positive in his convictions, and fearless in expressing them. 
A fine personal appearance, and a clear, strong voice, gave 
impressiveness to his pulpit ministrations. He soon became 
known and respected among all the neighboring churches. 
During the thirteen years of his ministry, Mr. Boutwell 
admitted sixty persons to the fellowship of the church, bap- 
tized thirty-two, infant and adult, united thirty-six couples in 
the bonds of matrimony, and attended ninety-four funerals. 

His latest labors were beyond his strength, and were dis- 
charged by virtue of a resolute will. Consumption had laid 
hold of him with inexorable grasp, yet he struggled against it 
and hoped against hope, willing to labor yet longer, if God 
would permit, for the people of his charge and his numerous 
young family. When all hope was given up, and he had 
entered his pulpit for the last time, on the first Sabbath in 
March, 1865, and administered the Sacrament and given 
his farewell words, I saw and conversed with him repeatedly, 
and he expressed no wish but that the will of God should be 
done. His death occurred on the 21st of April, 1865, and, at 
the age of fifty, he was gathered to his fathers, the two former 
pastors of this church, in the graveyard on the hill, where 
they all will rest till the morning of the resurrection. 

The death of Mr. Boutwell left the church in a condition 
entirely new. From the day of its organization, on the 13th 
of November, 1771, to that 21st of April, 1865, the long period 
of ninety-four years, it had not been a single day without a 
pastor. But the God of our fathers did not forget liis cove- 
nant. You do not any the less acknowledge the peculiar 
mercy of the dispensation, because the bracing air of these 



60 

glorious hills, and hardly less, perhaps, an eye to see and a 
soul to appreciate their wondrous beauty, first attracted to 
Sanbornton the man in the enjoyment of whose able pulpit 
ministrations, and faithful and loving pastoral oversight, you 
are so blest and happy. God grant the day may be far distant 
when it will be a thing in season to sum up his labors, or to 
attempt his portraiture. He is dearer to my heart, as I doubt 
not he is to yours, for the reason that, short as the time is, 
comparatively, since he first set foot in Sanbornton, he has 
told us much more of the magnificent mountains round about 
us than we ever knew before. It is required of me to say, 
also, that for the things of chiefest value in this address, I am 
largely indebted to his enthusiastic interest in this centennial 
day, and his patient and discriminating research in the records 
of the church and the town. 

The voice of your present pastor was heard by you, preach- 
ing Christ from this pulpit, for the first time, on the first Sabbath 
in October, 1865. The question of health in the highly bracing 
atmosphere of these everlasting hills, was, as you know, a vital 
question with him ; and so it came about that, as you found in 
him so much more than can reasonably be expected from a stated 
supply, and he seemed to you so like a pastor, the matter of 
his settlement was suffered to be in abeyance, and he was not 
installed till the 11th day of June, 1868. On that day, 
almost sixteen years from the day of the settlement of his 
predecessor, the Rev. Moses Thurston Runnels was consti- 
stituted your pastor by solemn service of installation in this 
house. The sermon was preached by the Rev. H. M. Stone ; 
the Rev. Liba Conant offered the prayer of installation ; the 
Rev. W. T. Savage, D. D., gave the charge to the pastor ; the 
right hand of fellowship was by the Rev. Joseph Blake, and 
the address to the people by the Rev. C. Burnham. 

Mr. Runnels has been with you, therefore, six years as your 
minister, and about three years and a half as your pastor. 
During the entire period, thirty-one persons have been received 
by him into the fellowship of the church, to fourteen of whom 
the ordinance of baptism was administered. Fourteen chil- 
dren have also been baptized by him, making the total number 



61 

of baptisms twenty-eight. He has united twenty-one couples 
in holy matrimony, and officiated at the funerals of fifty-four 
persons, the age of the youngest being six hours, and of the 
oldest, ninety years ; twenty-four were above seventy years of 
age ; ten were above eighty, and one, as has been said, was 
above ninety, while the average age of the whole number was 
fifty-six years. 

These things are embraced in the first hundred years of 
your history ; but th^ thing of deepest interest in relation to 
your present pastor, is the fact that he is the connecting link 
between two centuries. To you, brethren beloved of the 
church, with your deacons, Abraham Bodwell Sanborn and 
Joseph Emery ; and Moses Thurston Runnels, your pastor, 
God has assigned the peculiar privilege to complete the old 
century and usher in the new. 

Were it not that your pastor is present, there are some 
words which would seem to me fitting to put in this centennial 
discourse. I should not need to tell you, wliat you so very 
well know and appreciate, that his preaching is characterized, 
not only by marked intellectual ability and accurate and varied 
scholarship, but Vjy a true spiritual insight, and a tender affec- 
tion for all the members of his flock. Neither do you need to 
be reminded how conscientious and true he is in his pastoral 
visitation, especially in the house of sorrow and the chamber 
of death. If it is true that the mantles of the departed fall 
on the living, then it would seem to me that the beautiful 
mantle of my father's meekness rests on him, and that, if my 
sainted father is permitted to look upon this church to-day, a 
more joyous note sounds from his golden harp, for that he 
sees the place where he stood so long, now occupied by a man 
peculiarly after his own heart. These things I would have 
said if your pastor had not been present. 

You are entering on the second century of your existence 
as a church, in circumstances of peculiar hopefulness. The 
record of the past is such as should awaken devoutest thanks- 
giving. A hundred years ago to-day, seven earnest, Christian 
men subscribed their names to the covenant wliich stands on 



62 

first page of your earliest records, were constituted a church 
of the living God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, and received 
with thankfulness and joy their first ascension gift in the 
settlement of a pastor. Four hundred and sixty persons have 
been admitted to its communion as members since, making 
four hundred and sixty-seven in all. Of this entire number, 
and during the period of one hundred years, only twelve have 
been finally excommunicated. Your present number, as care- 
fully revised by your pastor, is one hundred and seventeen, of 
whom fifteen are absent, leaving one hundred and two resi- 
dent members. Strong attachment to the great doctrines of 
the Cross, a deep interest in Christian ordinances, and a 
steady maintenance of the monthly concert, the Sabbath 
school, and the weekly prayer meeting, have run, like so many 
golden threads, through all your history ; while stated contri- 
butions to the great benevolent enterprises of modern times 
have been hardly less a thing of course with you than the 
support of your own minister. While many other churches 
have been rent by strifes and divisions, bringing disastrous 
blight on their spiritual prosperity, to the great dishonor of 
Jesus Christ, and the destruction of the souls of men, you 
have been at peace among yourselves. Is it not a remarkable 
fact, calling for thanksgiving to God for his superabounding 
grace, that, in the entire period of one hundred years, a council 
has never once been called for the adjustment of difficulties 
in this beloved church ? 

Four of your number have been preachers of the gospel and 
pastors of churches of the same faith and order as your own. 
Two of the four have gone to their rest and reward, and two 
are here to-day, to participate with joy in the exercises of 
this centennial anniversary. How many of your children, 
born, baptized, and converted here, have gone away to be 
active members or deacons in other Christian churches, I am 
unable to say. The number, we know, has not been small. 
Some of these, too, have come from their distant homes to 
visit once more their fathers' graves, and to mingle their 
thanksgivings and prayers with yours on this auspicious day. 
Those fathers' graves, and mothers', too : how inexpressibly 



63 

dear to our hearts ! The time would fail us only to mention 
their names to-day. They are graven indelibly on our memo- 
ries, a goodly company. Their beautiful consistency, and 
their steadfast, patient. Christian life, we can never forget. 

There are some of you, venerable fathers, with the com- 
panions of your youth, hastening to join that blessed company, 
who well remember that reverend man who was ordained first 
pastor of this church one hundred years ago to-day: how he 
placed his hands on your heads and blessed you. So there 
may be children of this church, yet unborn, who shall stand 
a hundred years hence where we stand now, the small rem- 
nant of a generation that shall have passed away, and point 
to the name, now last, but which will then stand full high on 
the list of pastors who will have preached Christ's glorious 
gospel in this place, and tell, with loving remembrance, how 
his kind hand was laid on their heads, and his pleasant voice 
carried words of heavenly wisdom to their hearts. We may 
not know. But there is a higher thought. It is, of the mighty 
changes which are surely coming among the nations, and in 
the kingdom of Christ, during the next one hundred years. 
In this, your centennial year, great events have happened, 
which we may not attempt to interpret, but which are full of 
significance. That Franco-Prussian war, with its untold 
horrors and rivers of human blood ; the humbling of the pride 
and beauty of that gay metropolis, whose sorceries have cor- 
rupted the nations ; the death-blow dealt to the hoary papacy, 
in the overthrow of the temporal power of its arrogant and 
impious head ; and, not least, the awful visitation of God in 
the destruction by fire of the Empire City of tlie West, simul- 
taneously with that of villages and immense forests far beyond ; 
in all these, assuredly, we must acknowledge signs of the 
coming of Him by whom and for whom this church exists, 
and of that happier day when the kingdom, and the dominion, 
and the greatness of the kingdom under the wliole heaven, 
shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High. 



64 



EXEECISES AT THE TOWjS^ HALL. 



[See Appendix, Note E.] 

Blessing invoked at the table by the Rev. George D. Ballentine, of 
the First Baptist Church. 

After dinner, the compass and chain by which the town of San- 
bornton was originally laid out, (1750-52), furnished by Dr. John H. 
Sanborn, of Meredith Village, were exhibited to the audience. Also 
the Treatise on Surveying, styled " Geodossia, or the Art of Sur- 
veying Made Easy," and bearing the imprint of " London, 1753," 
by the aid of which Sergt. John Sanborn, the first who settled in town, 
was accustomed to " run his lines " in the capacity of " lot layer." 

To show^ under what difficulties and hardships the new settlers 
labored, near the time of the organizing of this First Church, the 
'' Petition of Jan. 1768," was read by Mr. Runnels, in which all the 
then inhabitants of the town, bewailing in pathetic terms their hard lot, 
pray of his Excellency, John Wentworth, Esq., Governor, &c., to be 
released for a year or two from paying the customary " Province Tax." 

A copy of the " Association Test " of Sanbornton, furnished by 
Mr. Charles W. Colby, was also exhibited, in which all the citizens 
then in town hut one (under date of July 3, 1776) pledge themselves 
to " oppose with arms the hostile attempts of the British Fleets and 
Armies." 

The Marshal next delivered a brief address of welcome, stating the 
joy and satisfaction which it aflTorded the present members of the 
Church and Parish to greet and try to entertain their friends from 
abroad on this occasion. He wished to have all feel free, like chil- 
dren at a family re-union, and to indulge in their remembrances of the 
past. 

Though he should call for the " regular toasts," prepared by the 
Pastor for this occasion, he would also invite volunteer sentiments, 
reminiscences or remarks at any time. He also stated that inasmuch 
as we have now assembled in the Town Hall the exercises might in 



6d 

in a measure partake of the more general character of a Town Cele- 
bration. 

TOASTS. 

[See Appendix, Note F.] 

(1.) "The younger Congregational Churches of Franklin and of 
Tikon. They may well regard this Centenary Church of Sanboruton, 
in part at least, as the mother of them both. Though they must increase 
while she may decrease, yet let the bonds of a common faith and a 
common polity ever tenderly unite this trio of churches to one another, 
and to Christ." 

Response by the Rev. Theo. C. Pratt, of Tilton, who began by saying 
that the Eev. Mr. Curtice, his predecessor, or the Rev. Dr. Savage, of 
Franklin, were they present, as had been expected, might more ap- 
propriately respond to this sentiment ; " for they have known you a 
quarter of a century or more, while I am but a babe of less than two 
years in my acquaintance with you. However, as children are al- 
lowed at family gatherings to say something, I would add, as a repre- 
sentative of the Church of Northfield and Tilton, that we are not 
ashamed of the mother church at Sanbornton Square, but rather 
proud of our connection with the noble men whose lives have been 
referred to so touchingly and appropriately in the address of the day." 

In conclusion he reminded the company that little had been said of 
the mothers and sisters in Israel and much of the fathers and broth- 
ers ; he also playfully criticised the orator in this respect ; but being 
informed that the omission would be made good, he yielded the 
floor. 

(2.) •• Our sister churches of other names in Sanbornton and vicin- 
ity. May they cast the mantle of charity over that mistaken affec- 
tion which icovld have retained them longer than seemed desirable 
within the old family circle of the original Church. 

Now, as for many years past, may we all as churches walk together 
' in the unity of the spirit and in the bond of peace.' " 

Responded to by Rev. Geo. D. Ballentine, of the First Baptist 
Church, Sanbornton, and Rev. E. P. Moulton, of the Free Will 
Baptist Church, Union Bridge. 

Mr. Ballentine said : •• Like my friend who has just preceded me, 

I feel that I am but a child in knowledge, so far as the history of tlie 

neighboring churches is concerned, having been a resident in town 

but a little over a year. But in behalf of my own church, and for myself, 

9 



I can say that we most cordially extend to this church and their be- 
loved pastor, both our hearts and our hands in the great interests of 
our common Lord and Master. I can freely add that I have felt as 
much at home to-day, as I should have done at a similar gathering in 
my own denomination. I was deeply interested in the very able ad- 
dress made this forenoon by Dr. Bodwell, and think that this church 
has abundant reason to be thankful for the very remarkable degree of 
prosperity which they have enjoyed for the century which has just 
come to so successful a close." 

Mr. Moulton's remarks not reported. 

(3.) " The two first deacons of this Church, Benjamin Darling 
and Nathaniel Tilton. For both were we indebted to that fart of the 
original parish which now holds up the name of one of the two— through 
his numerous and influential descendants — the name of ' Tilton.' " 

The Rev. C. W. Millen, of the Methodist Church, Tilton, responded 
substantially as follows : 

" This sentiment would more naturally fall upon some one of the 
descendants of the old Dea. Tilton, inasmuch as we have them with 
us. However, it gives me pleasure to have some part in the festivi- 
ties of this occasion. The eminence we occupy to-day enables us to 
survey one hundred eventful years in connection with this grand old 
town. 

I observed in Dr. Bodwell's discourse that the Sanborns played a 
prominent part in its early history, and I have taken it for granted 
that the town took its name from them. In this section they resided, 
and here was the centre of commercial enterprise ; but the manufac- 
turing facilities of the valley drew the people thither, and at length 
the most populous part of Sanbornton was that portion now called 
Tilton, from the fact that the Tiltons were involved, to a great extent, 
in the prosperity of the village. In that part of old Sanbornton it 
seems the first deacons of this church resided. I am glad that a 
century ago the Tiltons were noted for their piety. They are now 
noted, at least, for their wealth. There is an intimate relation be- 
tween piety and prosperity ; even between the piety of parents and 
the prosperity of children. Deacon Nathaniel Tilton, I doubt not, 
was like Nathaniel of old, ' an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no 
guile.' His children, 'blessed after him,' I hope will yet become dea- 
cons"^ themselves ; at least be in every way qualified for the office — 
' grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of 
filthy lucre, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.' 
The other deacon was Benjamin Darling. It appears that he also 



67 

lived in the same portion of the town. His descendants, I think, are 
not numerous in this section. I remember of having read of a dar- 
ling Benjamin, but this seems to have been a Benjamin Darling. I 
suppose as the former was the darling son of his father, so the latter 
was the darling father of a numerous offspring. 

May the memory of each of these deacons — so green to-day — be 
cherished a hundred years to come." 

Capt. Jonathan P. Sanborn, also from Tilton, corrected the impres- 
sion, in part entertained by the last speaker, that Sanbornton was so 
named because of the great number of settlers by that name ; rather 
because many of the proprietors were Sanborns. He also stated the 
fact that during a portion of the first winter, his grand-father, Sergt. 
John Sanborn, already mentioned, spent in that part of Sanbornton, 
which is now Tilton, no less than jive families were domiciled in the 
single room which he had finished off in his house, the beds being 
turned up in the day time and entirely covering the floor at night ! 

This prepared the way for the next sentiment. (See Appendix, 
Note G.) 

(4.) " The Sanborns of our ancient town. Prominent alike among 
its original grantees, its earliest settlers and its most distinguished, 
useful and exemplary citizens, ' through all their generations.' Their 
name is most appropriately as well as permanently enabalmed in the 
name of Sanbornton.'^ 

Response by N. H. Sanborn, Esq., of Franklin : " I should have 
been glad had some abler name-sake been called to respond to this 
sentiment. 

I am proud of the family name of Sanborn you have so generous- 
ly honored, and I venerate the fathers for having left us so good a 
name. I rejoice to be numbered among the sons of " Old Sanborn- 
ton," and I still claim to be a citizen of Sanbornton as it was, al- 
though a more recent reconstruction of municipal lines places my resi- 
dence in a neighboring town. The name of Sanborn, so far as we 
are able to trace it, originated with John Sanborn, of Derbyshire, 
England. He was born about IGOO, and married a daughter of Rev. 
Stephen Bachilor, by whom he had three sons. 

Two'of these, John and William Sanborn, better known as Lieut. 
John and Esq. William, settled permanently in Hampton ; and from 
them have descended the large family of Sanborns in this country — 
their descendants numbering more than 5000. As a race they have 
been robust, industrious and frugal ; and although they may not iiave 
attained distinguished eminence, they have lelt us a family name 



68 

alike creditable for respectability and honesty. John Sanborn, of 
Hampton, grand-son of Esq. William, obtained the original grant of the 
township of Sanbornton (dated December 31, 1748,) from the proprie- 
tors of lands purchased of John Tufton Mason. His name stands at 
the head of the long list of the grantees of the town, in honor of 
whose family name the town was called. 

He was a man of ability and influence, and represented the town of 
Hampton for many years in the Provincial Government. 

One of the first concerns of the early settlers of the town was to pro- 
vide for and maintain religious public worship, and to establish the 
Christian Church, on the faith and polity of the Pilgrim fathers. We 
meet to-day to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of'theaccom- 
phshment of that noble purpose. 

Of the seven original members of the church then established, four 
bear the Sanborn name, and the records of the church for the past 
century show that more than one hundred of the same name have 
been enrolled among its members. 

What a power for good has resulted from the planting of this 
church! Who can estimate its influence in moulding the character 
and institutions of this town which for so long a time took high rank 
among the towns of the State! 

I am glad to be with you to-day in this re-union of the sons of old 
Sanbornton, to commemorate the noble work of the Fathers, who, 
amid the difficulties and hardships of a new settlement far removed 
into the interior, sacrificed so much to establish here the principles of 
the Christian faith, and lay the foundation of the future prosperity 
and happiness of the town. 

In conclusion allow me to congratulate you on the success and 
felicity of this occasion, and to thank you for the generous hospitality 
and the friendship and cordiality that have characterized the en- 
tire celebration." 

(5.) " The Hon. Nathan Taylor, foremost among the then citizens 
of Sanbornton in the war of tlie Revolution : foremost in peace, and 
foremost both in the esteem of his fellow townsmen, and in the hearts 
of his Christian brethren of this church." 

The Rev. Frederic T. Perkins being called upon remarked that he 
would cheerfully respond to the sentiment proposed as best he could ; 
for that it seemed to him befitting the character of that noble man, 
who in many respects strongly resembled the " Father of our Coun- 
try," and also because of a just pride in him as a relative, and as one 
of the noblest citizens and most perfect Christian gentlemen that ever 



69 

lived in the town. That portrait of the Hon. Nathan Taylor brings 
up before us a man of fine symmetrical form, of graceful and dignified 
manners ; and, though of great decision and energy, yet also of great 
courtesy and refinement ; a beautiful type of the Christian gentle- 
man who commanded the respect of all. We all felt honored and 
improved by his presence ; and gladly would we have shown him the 
respect formerly paid to "Priest Woodman," as, on the Lord's day, 
he approached the meeting-house, when, all arranged in file, stood 
with uncovered heads, as he passed in. No other man ever so im- 
pressed upon this community the beautiful lesson of Christian 
courtesy as did Mr. Taylor. 

Recognized as a man of sound judgment and pure motives, he was 
respected and trusted by all. 

In all local affairs, his words, though few, had great weight ; and 
his judgment, when given, was, with many, decisive. He was called 
to fill many positions of responsibility and honor. He was a man of 
the purest patriotism. Entered the army at the beginning of the 
Revolutionary war, served his country well, bore his scar of honor 
through life, and the pension to which entitled he nobly refused till 
the death of his father, (also an officer in the army,) saying that ^' one 
pension in a family was enough." 

The speaker thought that by virtue of his connection, through his 
father, with the Hon. Nathan Taylor, and with old " Master Per- 
kins," and through his mother, with old Doctor Sanborn, and that 
grand woman, the Doctor's wife, he had about as much of Sanborn- 
ton in him as any other living man ! Alluding to the interest felt in 
the historical address he said : " The Lord makes some very queer 
things ; and Brother Bodwell here is one of them. He is vejy dry 
looking, and yet we sat two whole hours listening to him — and it did 
not seem long — so intensely interested were we in his discourse! 
There was not a dry thing in it ! And my good brother here, though 
so lean, is — as was his discourse — all full of the sweet juices of wit 
and humor. But as to swallowing all he said about the size of the 
old meeting-house on the hill, as only 60 by 43 feet ; all that won't 
go down ! Just as if any body who ever saw that old house were to 
believe any such thing ! That stately old house, not so large as this 
newer one ! Why, that was the biggest house ever seen ! How high 
it stood ! How grand it looked to all the people on this side of the 
circling hills, from the Gilford to the Ragged Mountains." 

The speaker said he had seen the Trinity and other large churches in 
New York, (where they have many big things, besides big thieves and 



70 

other political rascals,) and the large churches of Chicago which the 
flames have made so small ; but never saw any that seemed half so 
large as the " old meeting-house " on the hill ! Why, so large was 
it, that to help the sound, so that the minister could be heard by all the 
people, there was that curious thing up over the minister's head ! The 
great interest felt by the youngsters in that " sounding board," was in 
the fact that it looked as though it might come down some day ! and 
our speculations used to be on the probable results to the minister's 
head, being wickedly curious to see how it would strike ! 

Among other notable things about the old meeting-house, reference 
was made to the great singing of those days. We hear famous sing- 
ers, choirs and choruses, in our day ; but nothing like the singing up 
there in that old gallery, under the lead and inspiration of Charles 
Jesse Stewart. How he loomed up — all full of music from head to 
foot — fit to be the leader of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthan ; with 
*' Dea. Joe," Robert Hunkins, Mr. Ordway, Mary Edmunds, Betsy 
Brown, Julia Morrison and others ; how they used to sing ! O, for 
an old " fugue " by such a choir, as in those days made the great house 
tremble from top to bottom ! 

After some other playful remarks, the thought was seriously and 
earnestly presented that the cumulative influences and forces of the 
past have come down to make the present generation what it is ; that 
what we have received of good we are bound to transmit; that by 
what we are and do we help shape the character of coming gener- 
ations ; that we should improve upon the past and make the future 
better than the present ; so that the blessing of the God of our 
fathers and mothers may, with ever increasing richness, rest upon 
our beloved old church and town. 

(6.) " The oldest present member of this church, and the oldest 
living citizen of the town ; — a wonderful instance of a cheerful, use- 
ful and vigorous old age — himself the grand-son of the first and 
longest continued instructor of youth in Sanbornton. May he ever 
be young." 

The venerable Capt. John B. Perkins, in response to the above, 
came forward to the stand with the sprightliness of youth, amid the 
applause of the audience and humorously remarked : 

" You'd scarce expect one of my age 
To speak in public on the stage," 

(renewed applause) alluding to the fact that this was the first time he 
had ever attempted to make a public speech. " Although," said he, 
" I shall be 88 years of age the 16th of next May, almost old enough to 



71 

be reckoned among the aborigines, from whom they used to tell me 
I was descended ! " 

He then spoke of his well-remembered school days under the in- 
struction of his grand-father, "Master" Abraham Perkins, when 
the days of his going home from school without a flogging were the 
exception and not the rule, and were always attended as he left the 
school-room, with a peculiarly grateful sensation ! 

He acknowledged that he was the young man alluded to by Dr. 
Bodwell in his address, who was selling " the ardent" or rather aid- 
ing in that work, on the day of his father's ordination ; but pleaded in 
extenuation the great difference in public sentiment between that age 
and the present. 

" Formerly everybody drank, and the standard of respectability 
was found not, as now, in total abstinence, but in being able after par- 
taking of the usual drams, to go through the door of the room (point- 
ing to the door with his cane) without hitting both sides of the 
entrance ! " 

In conclusion, he again gratefully alluded to the good old age to 
which a kind Providence had spared him, and to the satisfaction he 
took in being present on this centennial anniversary of his beloved 
church, together with the companion of his youth, now nearly as old 
as himself, and with all three of their children. 

This, for popular effect, was decidedly the speech of the occasion, 
to which his son, the Rev. F. T. Perkins, added : " When the mar- 
shal of the day intimated to me that he was about to call out my 
father for a speech, and that perhaps it might be well for me to fol- 
low him with a few words, I supposed it was on the idea that the old 
gentleman might " get stuck " or " break down," or something of 
that sort. If he had any such apprehension, I am quite sure he will 
not have the next time when he may call him out. For plainly the 
youngish gentleman has outdone us all, and I am very confident that 
with time and practice he will be able to make his own speeches. 
This, his opening speech, shows that he may come to something 
yet." 

(7.) " Prominent among the officers of the town and of the church, 
ever loved and respected in the sacred ministry, and in various private 
walks of life, appears the name of Lane.'' 

Response by Dea. Redford W. Lane, of Nashua, who spoke of 
the commingled feelings of pleasure and sadness he experienced on 
being present on that occasion. It gave him pleasure to look upon 



72 

the hills and the valleys that in former days were so familiar, and 
which remained unchanged, as also many of the dwellings, appearing 
very much as in the days of his boyhood ; but there was a feeling of 
sadness in the thought of the great changes that had taken place in the 
occupants of those dwellings. There was pleasure, too, in meeting 
and exchanging cordial greetings with so many of his former friends 
and acquaintances, but a shade of sadness in the thought that, in all 
probability, it would be his last and only opportunity of so doing with 
most of them. As they had been invited by the marshal to talk 
over the remembrances of the past, he related some of his recol- 
lections of the old meeting house upon the hill, with its broad aisle 
from the entrance in front to the elevated pulpit in the rear, with 
gallery in front for the singers and extending around upon either side, 
with the square pews upon the wall where unruly boys would some- 
times so forget the proprieties of the time and place as to occasion an 
admonition by a loud rap from some sober minded person present, 
calling their attention to the fact as well as that of the congregation, 
and designating them by the pointing of his finger. In those days 
"• we had no bell to admonish us of the time for commencing services, 
and making our way to church on Sabbath morning from the neigh- 
borhood where I resided, when we came in sight of the residence of 
the Hon. Nathan Taylor, (already alluded to, whose portrait hangs 
before you,) and saw his horse harnessed to the chaise and standing 
at the door ready to take the family to meeting, we were all right, 
for he was not only constant in attendence but prompt as to time." 

"The good people of Sanbornton then attended the sanctuary 
through the cold winter season without any of the conveniences and 
comforts of the present day, with no relief from the stinging cold as 
they sat there through the long service except the small foot stoves 
brought by some of the ladies with a few coals from the hearth, to 
keep their feet warm ; and yet there were as few then who would 
allow themselves to be detained from attending public worship on 
account of inclement weather as there are now, when we have our 
meeting houses warmed and made comfortable." 

(Note. — Had there been time the speaker would have alluded to 
the Lanes of Sanbornton. Four brothers, Samuel, John, David, and 
Joshua, — sons of John Lane, of Kensington, — settled in Sanbornton 
prior to 1800. Of these, Samuel was the 3d Deacon of the church 
and a man of rare benevolence and excellence of character. John 
S. Lane, the sixth child of Dea. Samuel, was also a deacon of the 



73 

church fsee Appendix, notes B. and H.]. The widow of a fifth broth- 
er, Joseph, with her nine children, moved to town in 1813. Of 
these children were the Rev. Joseph Lane, — first a missionary among 
the Indians, then a pastor in Franklin three years, and lastly Secre- 
tary of the New Hampshire Bible Society ten years, till his death in 
1850, — Richard Lane, an earnest Christian who was deacon of this 
church for 14 years, — and the speaker, of whom, as we go to press, 
we are pained thus early to make the following announcement from 
the Boston Journal o^ March 18th: "Mr. R. W. Lane, one of tlie 
first citizens of Nashua, N. H., and for 22 years Clerk of the Jack- 
son Manufacturing Company, died on the 1 6th inst., after a brief 
illness of pneumonia, aged 63 years. Mr. Lane was a deacon in the 
Pearl street Congregational Church, and a kindly gentleman of man- 
ifold virtues, whose sudden death has cast a gloom over the commu- 
nity.") 

A*t this stage of the meeting the orator of the day improved his 
opportunity to reply to the Rev. Mr. Perkins, and said : " It is evident 
from his remarks that my brother Perkins thinks he is better look- 
ing than I am. I admit it, and I can tell you the reason ; his ances- 
tors were born in Sanbornton, mine were not. There can be little 
doubt that if my grandfathers and grandmothers had been born 
among these hills, as his were, I should have been nearly as hand- 
some* as my brother, and as portly as our friend Dea. Bodwell 
Sanborn. 

I can assure you that I was a very goodlooking individual in my 
earlier days. When I was a boy, in the Academy we had an " ex- 
hibition " at the close of the term, and as the part of a young lady 
was assigned to me, I had to appear in female costume, and the 
Hon. Nathan Taylor, to whom my brother has alluded, mistook me 
for the prettiest girl in town. I grew very homely after that. 

I want to say another word, in pursuance of the second sentiment 
and the remarks of Bro. Ballentine, — about good " Elder Crockett," 
whom I so well remember. His benevolent countenance and large 
head sat on ample shoulders. He wore top boots and breeches, and 
sat well in the saddle, riding a horse which appeared as if it had been 
made to order for his particular use, and carrying always a stout cane 
with a crook. In this way he and my father rode many miles 
together over these pleasant hills, and very beautiful was their mutual 
love and friendship, which lasted till death separated thoni. They 
met often in social circles, and would be seated side by side at the 
tea table, when Elder Crockett would become so absorl^^d, ms on 
10 



74 

one occasion, in conversation with my father, that he would press 
closer and closer to him, and at last quite unconsciously appropriate 
his cup of tea ! 

Some of you remember the singing to which our brother Perkins 
has referred, in that old meeting-house on the hill. My impressions 
quite agree with his. There was the choir of men and women that 
nearly filled the front of the long gallery opposite the pulpit, with 
the accompaniment of stringed instruments and sometimes of flute, 
clarionet, and bassoon besides. 

How well I remember the portly form of Dea. Joseph Sanbom, 
with bass voice like the stop of an organ, and Richard Hazleton, 
with tenor of surpassing purity and sweetness, and Betsy Brown, 
whose rich soprano suited well the beauty of her countenance, and 
many others of varied excellence, all under the grand leadership of 
Charles Jesse Stuart, the lawyer, who stood so erect and proudly at 
their head, the green plaid cloak, which was the fashion of the day, 
hanging carelessly from his ample shoulders. Don't you remember 
old "Denmark" on Thanksgiving day? 

" Before Jehovah's awful throne." 

I was a child then, and I have not offen heard singing since which 
has moved me as that did. As I look back it seems to have made 
quite as large a part of the pleasures of my Thanksgiving day as 
plumb pudding and mince pie. 

I think I may say that the singers in this congregation in those 
days were rather remarkable, both for time and tune. Yet they 
sometimes made mistakes. You remember " Uncle William," the 
father of Deacon Joseph Sanborn, who used to sit in the square cor- 
ner pew, next to that of Lieut. Perkins. A man of stalwart pro- 
portions and great muscular power, who came to meeting in breeches, 
his ample calves covered with those thick woolen stockings, colored 
to deep blue in the '• dye pot," always standing in the chimney cor- 
ner of the huge fire pbce, in every farm house in that day, his broad 
shoulders covered by a drab great coat of stout English cloth, which 
no rain could penetrate. That coat is still extant. Our friend 
Deacon Bodwell Sanborn, the grandson, finds it an excellent pro- 
tection when he has to go in a heavy rain storm to fetch the cows. 

Uncle William had been a grand singer in his day, but had retired 
from the singers' gallery to the family pew. On a certain pleasant 
Sunday, as the large choir were laboring under stress of evident dif- 
ficulty through one of Watts' unequalled hymns, the old man was ob- 
served to be uneasy in his seat, and gazing with a troubled counte- 



75 

nance at the singers, till at last, unable to bear it*any longer, he rose 
to his full height, and said in clear tones and with unmistakable em- 
phasis, " You hain't got the right pitch, and you make an awful 



noise 



I " 



I must not sit down without saying ayother word about this town 
of Sanbornton, so surpassingly beautiful, and so dear to all her sons 
and daughters wheresoever in the wide world they go. I remember 
when its boundaries were, to a large extent, the waters of the Winne- 
pisiogee and the Pemigewasset, and how I used to stand on " Meet- 
ing-house Hill " on a bright autumn morning and gaze on the beauti- 
ful wreath of fog that lay along the great valleys and indicated the 
course of the rivers and the boundaries of my native town. I do 
not accept the changes which have been made, and, above all, the 
neighborhood where are dwelling to-day the descendants of those 
noble men who gave its name to the town, is Sanbornton still, and 
must always be Sanbornton. To call it by another name is, to me, as 
if you should erase from the stone which stands above the grave of 
the first minister of the town the revered name of Woodman, and 
engrave Smith or Johnson instead. But I have no right to be talking 
here after your very kind and patient attention to my long address 
in the other house, and so I sit down." 

^ * * * ^ ^ * 

(8.) " The Deacon who always used to occupy the " Deacon's 
seat " in the old hill meetinghouse, Dea. Benjamin Philbrick. We 
welcome among us to-day another Philbrick, a son of this parish 
who has gone up higher, to the sacred desk." 

(It was expected that the Pev. Nathan P. Philbrick, of Northfield, 
would have responded to this sentiment, but he had been called away 
on account of illness. Dea. Philbrick was one of seven brothers 
who settled in the southeast part of the town.) 

(9.) " The Prescotts of old Sanbornton, who used to travel six 
miles on horseback by families every Sabbath, from the most remote 
and rugged corner of the town, to attend this sanctuary of our God." 

(Dea. Joseph Prescott, of Hill, grandson of Maj. Joseph, who 
first settled in the New State (northwest corner of town), was pre- 
pared to respond, but had been obliged to leave on account of the 
lateness of the hour.) 

(10.) " The ladies of our united towns. Formerly accustomed to 
play skillfully upon the hand loom and spinning wheel, as their chief 
instruments of music ; now, though in great measure having exchanged 
these for the piano-forte and the sewing machine, yet we know they 



76 

will not forget their relations to us of the sterner sex as our 
wives and daughters, our sisters and mothers." 

Response by Mr. Richard Ward, of Boston. " Looking back as 
far as I can, I see upon the uncarpeted, unpainted floors piles of 
wool, or flax, or tow. I see the big high spinning wheel and the low 
linen wheel ; the quilling wheel and swifts ; the loom, with big 
beam, little beam, harness, and reed. I see the warp wound tightly 
round the beam and stretching forward through the harness and 
reed ; the quill box full of wound quills, and the shuttle beside the 
box. And there, on a thick, hard plank seat or bench, I see a 
vSanbornton woman with her two feet upon the treadles. Half 
the warp goes up and half down, and at each change in the warp 
the shuttle flies through and through with the filling. Noble, loving 
mothers of noble, loving daughters ! 

Use is the end of all God's works and words, and these women 
were truly useful. 

By short stages or removes they had found their way through the 
Wilderness from Hampton Beach to Kelley's Ledge. Their wan- 
derings and hardships had worn off the old English polish, but not a 
jot of the pure, warm love in their hearts had been lost. They could 
take good care of 8, 10, or 12 children and one at the breast, do all 
their housework, spin or weave a maid's stent, and have strength to 
brao; of it at nisfht. 

What is a modern factory with 500 spindles compared to 50 of 
these women ? 

The men resolved and voted that " ye meetinghouse shall be raised 
and boarded before " such a day. But it wasn't. 

The women resolved, and then carded, spun, dyed, wove, cut, and 
made their husbands' and sons' clothes, and voted them into the 
clothes, and they were there on or before the day named in their 
resolve. Where did these good women get their marvelous strength ? 
From the Lord of Hosts. He gives it to all those who will look 
to Him and desire it to use, to do good work. * # • # ' * Their 
daughters are now scattered from Sanbornton Bay to the Gulf of 
Mexico, from Hunkin's Pond to the mouth of the Oregon, and from 
Salmon Brook Mountains to the gold hills of California, blessing 
hundreds of useful and delightful homes, and there are a " few more 
left." A few are here to-day, and others as good, — God bless 
them all — to cheer our eyes, grasp our hands, strengthen our hearts, 
^and warm our stomachs. Women just like those who fought their 
way up here among these woods, mountains, rocks, and snowdrifts are 



77 

not needed now. To-day a piano, or a centre table covered with 
books and papers, pictures, pen, ink, and paper, are better than a loom 
or a spinning wheel. If the women of to-day are more like angels, 
then the world has advanced ; for the Lord gives all a life in this 
world that they may fit themselves here to become angels in His 
heaven." 

(11.) "The physicians of Sanborn ton, among whom especially 
the names of a March, a Sanborn, a Gerrish, a Hill, a Carr, and an 
Abbott, can never be forgotten." 

The lateness of the hour and the disappearance of the resident 
physicians prevented a response. 

(12.) " The teachers of Sanbornton and the Preceptors of the 
Woodman Sanbornton Academy," would have called forth from Dr. 
Bodwell, formerly a " Preceptor/' a tribute to his first instructor, 
"who taught him his letters," Miss Esther Sanborn, she being 
present on the occasion. 

Also from Rev. Mr. Perkins, a tribute to the memory of his first 
instructor, " Master Colby," (Benjamin Colby, Jun.,) some of whose 
children were present. But none of those pleasant reminiscences 
could be indulged, for the sun of that joyous day had set, the evening 
twilight was approaching, and with pensive yet happy hearts, the 
meeting was " adjourned for 100 years," all knowing full well that 
they must lie down in their graves, long before the next Centennial 
should occur. 



APPENDIX. 



Note ^'A." 



A committee to superintend the decorations of the meeting-house had previously 
been chosen at a meeting of " those interested in the Centennial," consisting of 
Mr. H. P. Wilson, Miss Ruth C. Bodwell, and Mrs. Mary P, Carr. It was after- 
wards noticed that this committee were, very happily, the present residents and 
occupants at the several homesteads of the three first pastors, the two last on the 
committee being daughters of the second and third pastors. Great credit is due to 
the committee for their well-timed and persevering efforts, and to the ladies who 
assisted them in the work of decoration. 

A brief account of the manner in which the interior of the meeting-house was 
adorned may be of interest in future years. Directly in the rear of the pulpit — 
center of the end wall — was a large heavily-wrought cross of evergreen, with 
white flowers. Above this, the name of "Woodman ; " on its right, " Bod- 
well," on its left, "Boutwell," and underneath, "Runnels;" the whole en- 
circled over the top by the words, " Our Pastors." A little below the cross, 
and extending along the wall on either side, was the follo^ving, in one line : 

"1771. One Generation passeth away and another Generation 
COMETH. 1871." 

preceded by the portrait of Hon. Nathan Taylor encompassed with evergreen, 
and followed by that of his great grand-daughter, when a child ; the present Mrs. 
John H. Morse, of Methuen, Mass. At the right of the pulpit, on the side wall, 
was a portrait of Rev. A. Bodwell, opposite Avhich, on the left, was the motto, 
"Christ is All." Two large photographs of the second and third pastors, 
Messrs. Bodwell and Boutwell, were suspended from the desk, in front. The 
windows and doors were arched with thick evergreen festoons: while in the rear 
of the house, over the doors and singers' seats, the two flags, English and Ameri- 
can, were gracefully suspended, meeting in the center; the former opposite "1771," 
showing that our fathers were then under the English government, and the latter 
opposite " 1871." The word "praise," beautifully wrought, appeared behind 
the choir, and at their right, an evergreen monogram, " I. H. S.," {Jesus Homi- 
num Salvator). All the lettering was wrought with thick evergreen, except the 
names of the three first pastors, for which cedar sj>rigs were used, giving them a 
dimmer aspect, suggestive of the past. 



80 



Note ''B. 



The Church Sahbath school was first organized the first Sunday of May, 1819, 
though Mr. Bodwell had previously sustained a " Catechetical Society." We 
learn, from certificates and prizes for reciting verses now found with a few of our 
aged church members, that the Hon. Nathan Taylor was that year "President of 
the Sunday School Association," and John Lane, 3d, (afterwards Deacon John 
S. Lane) " Conductor." About the same time and afterwards branch schools 
were carried on by Deacon Joseph and Simeon Sanborn, on the Sanborn Road ; 
by Ebenezer Sanborn and Deacon Benjamin Philbrick, near Union Bridge; and 
by Benjamin Robinson, Mrs. Jacob March, and Mrs. Jacob Hersey, on Calef 
Hill. 

Deacon J. S. Lane continued superintendent of the main school " most of the 
time," till 1847, though Dr. Thomas P.Hill, Woodman Emery, and different 
Preceptors in the Academy, are remembered to have served during brief periods 
each. No authentic records, till 1847, when Dr. James B. Abbott was first 
chosen superintendent of the Sunday school, and re-elected by the church for six 
teen consecutive years. David. C. Clough, the present esteemed superintendent, 
has served since 1863. 



Note ^'C." 
Jonathan M. Taylor, Esq., had previously been elected Marshal of the day, to 
conduct the general exercises and preside in the Town Hall; which he did in an 
appropriate and acceptable manner. 



Note '^E)." 

The singing for both days was furnished by the choir of the church, under the 
direction of Mr. John S. Sanborn, who had at that time served in the capacity of 
chorister, with singular fidelity, for more than thirty years — nearly one-third 
of the century. 

The choristers who preceded Mr. Sanborn, so far as remembered, were Jonathan 
Perkins, Benjamin Sanborn, Col. Jeremiah Tilton, Ebenezer Sanborn, Charles 
J. Stewart, Esq., Richard Hazelton, Simeon Sanborn, Dr. Thomas P. Hill, and 
Abraham B. Sanborn, whose average terms of service could not have exceeded 
seven or eight years each. 

Note "E." 

A committee of four gentlemen and four ladies, representing four parts of the 
parish, was also chosen at the preliminary meeting, to provide an entertainment 
in the Town Hall, and to decorate the same in a suitable manner. This commit- 
ee consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Sanborn, for the Sanborn Road in Tilton ; 
Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Lane, for the Square; Mr. and Mrs. Otis S. Sanborn, for 
the Hunkins District; and Mr. Albert M. Osgood and Miss Louise Emery, for 
the Calef Hill. These all bore the names of such as were prominent in the early 
history of the church and society, Mr. N. Sanborn being a great-grandson of Mr. 
Ebenezer Sanborn, one of the grantees of the town, and still occupying, in part. 



81 

the soil granted; oMr. 0. S. Sanborn being a great-grandson of Esquire Daniel 
Sanborn, the first justice of the peace and prominent town officer ; and Mr. Joshua 
Lane being a grandson of " Master " Joshua Lane, who was town clerk during 
the first twenty-one years of the present century. That successful and most 
praiseworthy part of the celebration which pertained to the Town Hall, on Mon- 
day, is largely due to the unwearied exertions and good taste of this committee. 

" The bountiful collation " was justly commended in the " Concord Statesman " 
of NoA-ember 16th, which declares that " turkeys, chickens, meats, bread, pies, 
and cake were provided in such profusion that it would require no miracle to take 
up any number of baskets of fragments after that multitude had fed." 

To convey some idea of the decorations Avhich made the old Town Hall appear 
so much like fairy-land, let the following notes suffice. Two large evergreen trees 
on either side the desk ; ten small trees on the sides of the house ; and fifteen 
ditto completely disguising the old gallery. Heavy evergreen festoons all around 
the room ; the same double in front of the gallery, with eight wreaths hung from 
the festoons — one in each window. Six lines of similar festoons culminating in 
the center of the ceiling and extending to the four corners and two sides. Mottoes 
(in evergreen) : right of desk, " Should old acquaintance be forgot ? " 
On the left, place occupied by the singers, "Praise God froji whom all bless- 
ings FLOW." Front of the gallery, "Our fathers, where are they?" 
Arch over the table, '' Welcome." 

The following full-sized portraits were also hung in the Town Hall : in center, 
back of the desk, Hon. Nathan Taylor, Capt. Asa Currier, Ebenezer Sanborn, 
and Jeremiah Sanborn ; on south side of desk. Dr. John Carr and Thomas Tay- 
lor. On the north side, Dr. James B. Abbott and Noah Eastman, Esq., besides 
two smaller portraits in front of the desk, of Jonathan Sanborn and Jonathan H. 
Taylor. To these many others might have been added, had the numerous speci- 
mens of the skill of Sanbornton's distinguished artist, Mr. Walter Ingalls, scat- 
tered among the families of town, been called into requisition. 



Note " F." 

Eesponses to these sentiments are variously reported, and this may add to the 
variety of the compilation. 

Copies or abstracts of the speeches were solicited from all the speakers. 

The replies of some were very meagre, of others considerably modified or am- 
plified. Some were given in the first person, others in the third person. 

The foi-m of address used by the speakers is omitted. 

Quotation marks are employed when the language is believed to be identical 
or nearly so with Avhat was uttered ; and tlie whole may be regarded as a fair ex- 
pression, for substance, of what was actually said, as reported by the speakers 
themselves. 

Note "G." 
This and the five following sentiments allude to certain family names, especially 
to such as were most numerous both in the church and in the town, and repre- 
sented different sections of the town some of whose descendants also, from abroad, 
bearing the same names, were expected at tlie Centennial Anniversary. 
11 



82 

Many other names might have been complimented in a similar way, had time 
permitted. The names of Calef, Gate, Clark, Colby, Durgin, Dearborn, East- 
man, Emery, Gale, Hunkins, Hersey, Jaques, Moulton, Morrison, March, Thomp- 
son, Weeks, and others, have occupied honorable places as members of the church 
and society. Of Josiah Emery, Esq., it may be added that he was a prominent 
member of the church after 1775, having married Rebecca, the sister of Rev. Mr. 
Woodman. The names of the seven original members of the church were James 
Gate, Deacon Benjamin Darling, Daniel Sanborn, Esq., Josiah Sanborn, Aaron 
Sanborn, Abijah Sanborn, and Deacon Nathaniel Til ton, the third, fifth, and 
sixth being brothers. 

Note "H." 

A LIST OF THE DEACONS. 

Appointed. Retired. 

Benjamin Dakling, - - - Jan. 2, 1772, 

Nathaniel Tilton, - - Jan. 2, 1772, May 8, 1811 

Samuel Lane, - - - - Aug. 1811 

Benjamin Philbrick, - - 1811, April 3, 1837 

Simeon Moulton, - - - April 30, 1812, May 21, 1821 

Joseph Sanborn, - - - Jan. 10, 1817, April 3, 1837 

Moses Emery, - -' - - July 5,1821, April 3, 1837 

John S. Lane, - - - May 13, 1837, May 13, 1848 

Richard Lane, - - - May 13,1837, May 25, 1851 

James B. Abbott, M. D., - - July 8, 1848, July 6, 1870 

Abraham B. Sanborn, - - June 1, 1851, 

Joseph Emery, - - - Sept. 3, 1870 



